A new study found that girls who are vaccinated with shots that protect them from getting cervical cancer are not found to be more sexually active than unvaccinated girls, CBS News reported.
The study, which was published on Monday in the journal "Pediatrics," examined medical records from 2006 to 2007 that contained the records of about 1,400 11-year-old and 12-year-old girls; 500 of the girls had received the vaccine while 900 of them had not received it, The Huffington Post reported.
Over the next three years the researchers proceeded to keep tabs on the girls sexual activity by examining their records over the next three years. The investigation involved continuously checking on the girls medical records to see if any of them had become pregnant, had tests done to determine if they were pregnant, or had tests done for sexually transmitted diseases, CBS News reported.
Many parents are worried that by allowing their daughter to receive the shot that she will become sexually active. However, Robert Bednarzyk, the study's co-author and a clinical investigator, told The Huffington Postthat the study displayed no variation of sexual activity between vaccinated and unvaccinated girls.
HPV is the primary cause in cervical cancer, and it has also been associated with causing both oral and anal cancers in women and men. It's advised by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics that both girls and boys receive the HPV shot before they have sex; they should be given the shot, which is generally three shots during a six month period, around age 11 or 12, CBS News reported.
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