Protect your children from Cervical Cancer

What …?! Why do I need to protect my kids from grown-ups diseases? 

If you are a parent, you have probably known about cervical cancer for a long time. The picture in your mind will be of a frightening cancer that affects women. Every year, we hear of 100 Thai women who fall ill with cervical cancer. There are campaigns for high-risk women to take a ‘Pap Smear Test’ or an internal examination for cancer cells. This test can lead to complete recovery if the disease is diagnosed quickly. “But we’ve never heard of it being associated with children before!”

The latest advances in medicine have produced an amazing discovery: the occurrence of cervical cancer is related to HPV infection, which can be contracted through sexual relations. The main strains are HPV 16 and HPV 18, and reducing the risk of infection can help prevent this disease. It is exciting to know that a vaccine for cervical cancer has already been developed – but the problem is, who should be vaccinated? The medical profession has recently agreed the cause of cervical cancer is sexual relations, so vaccinations should be given to those who have reached reproductive age. If prevention is to be most effective, it must begin in the teenage years or before, when girls start menstruation and may start thinking about boys. Three injections will be given in all, at intervals of one-to-two months and six months respectively.

Advising children to be vaccinated against HPV is regarded as an international standard in disease prevention, and is therefore normal practice in the medical profession. Parents need not be worried about whether or not the vaccination is appropriate. The pediatrician will consider and advise parents and children, case by case.

 

www.samitivejhospitals.com