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No link shown between HPV vaccination and promiscuity

Category: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Contradicting the assumptions that getting vaccinated for the human papillomavirus (HPV) would make teenage girls more likely to need STD testing after mistaking their HPV immunity as protection from other sexually transmitted diseases, and engaging in dangerous sexual behavior, a British study indicates that such is not the case.

This research, published in the journal Vaccine, compiled records of more than 1,000 young women in the U.K. whose average age was 17. Comparing those who had been vaccinated for HPV - the most common of all sexually transmitted diseases - with those who hadn't, the researchers did not find any significant difference in rates of sexual activity, condom use or number of sexual partners.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV infections don't cause any discernible health problems 90 percent of the time. However, the virus will sometimes bring about unfortunate outcomes from STD testing for genital warts, and could foster the development of cervical cancer and other, rarer forms of cancer. The group of unusual cancers connected to HPV include cancer of the vulva, vagina, penis, anus and a particular form of throat cancer.