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# Many Girls Mistakenly Believe That the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Protects Them Against STDs
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/human_papillomavirus_vaccine_0107120735/
- Published: 2012-01-07T08:32:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:23:00.000Z
- Description: A survey of 339 females aged 13 to 21 taken after their first HPV shot found many thought their risk of sexually transmitted disease was lower afterward. Girls who felt less need for safe sex were more likely to misunderstand HPV and what the vaccine does.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Drug, Health News, #vivvo-import

By Maria Cendejas and editing by Stacey Sexton

Saturday Jan 7, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Girls who receive the human papillomavirus vaccine still need to practice safe sex. Researchers have found that some girls who get the vaccine believe that using protection is no longer necessary, according to Z6mag. Most girls believe they are at less risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease after getting the vaccine.

Tanya Kowalczyk Mullins, MD, of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, and her colleagues reported that those girls who thought they had a lower need for safe sex were more likely to have no understanding of HPV and the vaccine. Their findings were published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

Cervical cancer is the easiest cancer to prevent with an annual screening. The HPV test and cervical screening looks for human papilloma virus that can cause the cell changes that cause cervical cancer. Gardasil protects against the strains of the virus that cause genital warts. HPV vaccines only prevent HPV and don’t prevent cervical cancer.

Researchers did a survey of 339 females between the ages of 13-21 after their first HPV vaccine shot. They found that 235 mothers believed that the risk of human papillomavirus, cervical cancer or any other sexually transmitted diseases was lower after the vaccine.