HPV vaccine shows promise

An HPV vaccination program in Australia appears to have resulted in a drop in cervical lesions among young women.

Written byJef Akst

| 1 min read

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CDC, JAMES GATHANY

For diseases that are slow to spread and develop, it's not always easy to tell if a vaccine is effective. But just 3 years into an HPV vaccination program in the Australian state of Victoria, young women are showing lower rates of cervical lesions, according to a new study published online last week (June 17) in The Lancet.

After the HPV vaccine was licensed in 2006, Australia became the first country to initiate a national program the following year, delivering as many vaccines as possible to women 12 to 26 years old. The new study is the first to compare the incidence of cervical abnormalities among women and girls before and after the vaccine program began. The results revealed that high-grade cervical abnormalities, such as ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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