HPV vaccinations. Grzesiowski: we have a case of a four-year-old child who became infected from his parent

From September 1, 2024, vaccinations as part of the universal HPV vaccination program are available to children from the age of nine and up to the age of 14. Parents must consent. The HPV virus is responsible, among other things, for cervical cancer.

Anja Rubik, founder and president of the SexEd.pl foundation, which runs a campaign for these vaccinations, and Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, Chief Sanitary Inspector, talked about how important HPV vaccinations are in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24.

Rubik said that “the matter is quite simple and clear.” – Statistics in Poland are terrifying. As many as six women a day learn about cervical and uterine cancer. Four women a day lose their lives to this disease. And we can prevent it in such a simple way, she said.

– The SexEd.pl Foundation launched the campaign at the beginning of the year, but what is most important is that we have created a pilot vaccination program in schools for the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science. This program is currently being introduced throughout Poland, it started in September. And I'm starting to travel around Poland to support this program from the grassroots, i.e. support local governments, support schools, school principals, to publicize this topic as much as possible, she continued.

Doctor Grzesiowski said that “through vaccination we can eliminate or reduce to a minimum the incidence of a very serious disease.” He added that cervical cancer is just one of the cancers that is associated with HPV infection.

– Let us remember that these are other cancers in women and also in men, related to the broadly understood area of ​​the reproductive tract or genital organs, but also these are head and neck cancers, which also involve chronic HPV infection as a mechanism of development. That is why we are talking about vaccination of boys and girls, and not only in the context of cervical cancer – continued the Chief Sanitary Inspector.

– So this is very important information that we should repeat all the time, that we can protect a child or a young person from a fatal disease through vaccination, an activity that actually requires two small injections – he emphasized.

The program's guests also talked about when it is best to get vaccinated against HPV.

– We encourage young people to be vaccinated because this vaccine is best absorbed and it is best to vaccinate before the first sexual initiation. However, you can become infected with HPV in other ways, said Anja Rubik.

Doctor Grzesiowski said that vaccinations are a preventive measure that focuses on what may happen in the future. – So we don't think about the fact that a nine-year-old child will have sex, we will only vaccinate him when he is ready for vaccination to the point where his immune system will react, but we do it for the future, for the next 20-30-50 years – added Dr. Grzesiowski.

The Chief Sanitary Inspector also talked about why it is worth getting vaccinated even if someone has already been diagnosed with the HPV virus.

– First of all, the fact that we have a virus in us does not mean that we have cancer. This process takes many years and supporting the immune system through vaccination may even change the course of the disease. Secondly, we have one type of virus, and the vaccine protects against many other oncogenic viruses, the doctor pointed out.

– Because diagnostics have improved, we are now also observing infections in young children, in children younger than those who have registered vaccines. We now have a case, which will probably be published, of a four-year-old child who became infected from a sick parent. There was no connection with sexual activity, he explained.

– The virus is simply transmitted through contact and we also need to think about it in the families of infected people, that if there is a child there, perhaps this vaccine should be administered even earlier than the age of nine – added the TVN24 guest.