Who gets the HPV vaccine?

• HPV vaccine has been offered to BC girls in grades 6 and 9 since September 2008.

How many doses of the HPV vaccine are needed?

• The vaccine is given in a 3 dose series, usually all given in the same school year.

What is changing?

• For the 2009-10 school year, Fraser Health will give the third dose in the fall of 2010, when these girls are in grades 7 and 10, respectively. This is needed to free up public health resources for the administration of the pandemic vaccine.

Will the delay of a third dose of the vaccine affect my daughter's protection from HPV?

• The first and second doses establish immunity, and the third dose boosts the immune response to provide long lasting protection. Protection is believed to last at least 10 years and may last longer. A scientific committee supported by the BC Centre for Disease Control has reviewed the available data on this ‘extended’ HPV vaccine schedule, and advised that girls who get the vaccine on this schedule will be just as protected as those on the regular schedule. Health units will keep track of girls on the longer schedule to help with follow-up and completion of the series.

How else will I hear about this change?

• If you are the parent or guardian of a girl in grade 6 or 9 in attendance at a school in Fraser Region, you will receive a notice from the health unit about this change. If your daughter attends school in Fraser Region and you move out of Fraser, including out of province after this school year, contact the health unit upon arrival in your new district to arrange for your daughter to receive her 3rd dose. All jurisdictions in Canada now have publicly funded HPV programs for school age girls, with the exception of Nunavut where a program will be starting in 2010-11.

Will girls in grade 9 always be offered the vaccine?

• Girls in grade 9 will continue to be offered the vaccine for two more years, including the 2010-2011 school year. Thereafter the vaccine will be offered in grade 6 only, as older girls will have had a chance to receive it in prior years.

What should I do if my daughter misses a dose of the vaccine?

• Girls who missed one or more doses of the 3 dose series while in grade 6 or 9 may contact the health unit to make an appointment to receive the vaccine.

How does the HPV vaccine work?

• The vaccine prevents HPV infection but does not treat it. Therefore it’s important to get the vaccine before the start of sexual activity, and ideally before age 15, by which age one-quarter of girls in BC report that they have had sexual intercourse.