(ABC NEWS) -- A vaccine to protect our daughters against cancer, and yet some parents don't want to give it. But one of their fears has been put to rest.
With more, here's ABC News Senior Medical Contributor Dr. Timothy Johnson.
The HPV vaccine it's a relative newcomer among recommended shots. Yet nearly every major medical organization urges parents to get their daughters vaccinated to decrease their cervical cancer risk.
But since HPV is a sexually transmitted disease some resisted, thinking
that offering the vaccine to preteens might lead them to engage in more -- and riskier -- sex.
Now, in a new study, Harvard researchers have found that this simply isn't the case.
Data on tens of thousands of young women shows that women who got the HPV shot had no increase in the rate of an important indicator of risky sex sexually transmitted infections.
What this suggests is that there is simply no connection between the shot and risky sexual decisions.
For parents a reassuring message. but also a wake-up call to get your
daughters the HPV shot now to protect them from cancer later in their lives.
