Half of Brazilian youths surveyed has HPV: health authority
Xinhua,November 28, 2017 Adjust font size:
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Health Ministry said Monday that over half of the Brazilian youths tested in a survey are infected with human papilloma virus (HPV).
The survey was conducted by the ministry among 5,812 women and 1,774 men aged 16 to 25, from all 27 Brazilian states. It found that 54.6 percent of the surveyed are infected with HPV, a sexually transmitted disease; and among the infected, 38.4 percent have the HPV variants which are related to the development of several types of cancer.
The HPV is largely responsible for the development of cervical cancer, which is the fourth most frequent cancer among women in Brazil, after skin, breast, lung and colorectal cancer.
Brazil's National Cancer Institute (INCA) estimates 16,340 new cases of cervical cancer in 2017.
In a move to prevent the development of cervical cancer and other HPV-related cancer cases in the younger generation, the Brazilian government started to vaccinate pre-teen girls a few years ago.
More recently, the government extended the age bracket for the vaccine and started vaccinating boys as well. Enditem