In June 2018, the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at the Robert Koch Institute extended the HPV vaccination recommendation to boys. Since the end of last year, statutory health insurance companies have also covered the costs of the HPV vaccination for boys. Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are considered the main trigger for the development of cervical cancer and its precursors. HPV can also cause other diseases such as penile or throat cancer and genital warts.
This is why the health department in the Ludwigsburg district and the district medical association are launching the campaign "HPV - don't let the virus win!" Employees of the health department are distributing flyers to all pupils in year 6 via the schools. Students from the Ludwigsburg University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Finance designed the flyers for girls with the mascot "Cuterus" (a cartoon uterus) and heart-shaped plasters. A graphic designer designed the flyers for the boys with the emoji mascot "Buddy" and superhero plasters. The school administrators, 6th grade teachers and parents will be contacted. District health officer Dr. Thomas Schönauer and paediatrician Dr. med. Thomas Kauth, deputy chairman of the Ludwigsburg district medical association, were full of praise for extending the campaign to boys.
All sixth-graders who have been vaccinated against HPV at least once by June 30 can voluntarily take part in a competition by sending a certificate stamped by their pediatrician or family doctor to the public health department. All participants will be entered into a draw to win two tickets to Europapark. Neither the certificates nor the data they contain will be stored or passed on to third parties. The data will be deleted immediately after the prize draw.
In a similar campaign in 2018 (for girls only), the number of HPV vaccinations in the Ludwigsburg district rose by +10.71% in the third quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Dr. Uschi Traub from the health department. In contrast, it was -6.67% in the district of Esslingen and -2.57% in Baden-Württemberg.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Uschi Traub, Tel. 07141 144-2020, Mail: praevention@landkreis-ludwigsburg.de.
General information on HPV
Almost everyone is infected with HPV at some point in their lives, many of them during their first sexual contact. The infection goes unnoticed and usually heals on its own. In a few cases, the immune system is unable to eliminate the virus. One possible consequence is malignant cell changes that can develop into carcinoma.
According to the STIKO, HPV-related cancers occur in around 6,250 women and 1,600 men every year. More than 40% of all cases do not affect the cervix, but other organs such as the penis, anus and throat. Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. It is known that human papillomaviruses (HPV) are responsible for around 90% of cervical cancers.
Information on the HPV vaccination
The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at the Robert Koch Institute currently recommends the HPV vaccination for girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 14. According to the STIKO, adolescents who have not yet been vaccinated can catch up on the vaccination by the end of their 17th year. Some health insurance companies even cover the costs at a later age. The nine-fold HPV vaccine protects against a total of nine HP viruses, which are responsible for around 75 to 90% of all cervical cancers. It also protects against around 90% of genital warts. So far, only 45% of 12- to 17-year-old girls have taken up the HPV vaccination, according to data from the KV vaccination surveillance at the RKI from 2014.
Vaccinating boys is not just about indirectly protecting girls. Boys
can also contract HPV infections themselves, for example the unpleasant and difficult-to-treat genital warts, as well as malignant tumors of the penis and anus. Vaccination of boys has long been recommended and introduced in the USA, Canada and Australia. Australia has been practising HPV vaccination for boys since 2012, and European countries have also followed suit, for example Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Belgium In Austria, a free school vaccination program for boys aged 10 has been in place since 2014.
According to a STIKO analysis, only 31% of 15-year-old girls were fully vaccinated at the end of 2016, compared to 43% of 17-year-olds. This is a sad result when you consider that around 4,500 women in Germany contract cervical cancer every year and around 1,500 women die from it. In contrast, England has an immunization coverage rate of around 76% of 12 to 13-year-old girls through a state school vaccination programme and Denmark has a coverage rate of around 83% of 12 to 13-year-old girls through a reminder system with invitation letters.
According to a Cochrane meta-analysis published in 2018 of the results of 26 randomized trials worldwide involving more than 73,400 women from all continents, HPV vaccination protected quite well against precancerous lesions of the cervix. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the vaccination had any serious side effects, such as an increased risk of miscarriage.
