Since 2010 all girls in fifth grade, and since 2020 all boys, have been offered the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The vaccine protects against cancer, especially cervical cancer.
Now researchers at the Karolinska Institute have published a study, as DN reports, showing that herd immunity has been achieved. This means that even girls who have not received the vaccine are protected. The results are published in the scientific journal Lancet Public Health.
The researchers analysed the occurrence of precancerous cervical lesions in more than 850,000 unvaccinated Swedish women born between 1985 and 2000. The results show that serious precancerous cell changes in the cervix were almost twice as common among women born between 1985 and 1988 as among those born in 1999 or 2000.
The researchers attribute this to the fact that the latter group grew up when many of their peers were vaccinated at school.
