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HomeNewsHPV stats in Muskoka following the national trend and continuing to rise

HPV stats in Muskoka following the national trend and continuing to rise

The national trend of rising HPV cases is no different in Muskoka. Health unit officials say they don’t have any recent numbers, but the number of cases has been going up. Across Canada, the number of throat cancers related to HPV went up by 50 per cent between 2000 and 2012 according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Immunization Program Director for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, Maryann Holmes, says HPV is caused by a virus, and about 70 per cent of people will have one of those infections in their life.

Holmes says although the bad news is that number of cases is rising, the good news is that the majority of new cases are preventable.

She says that’s the vaccine grade seven and eight boys and girls get in school in Ontario. She says the hope is over the next few years the rates will come down as they start to see the effects of the vaccine. This is the second year grade seven boys are offered the vaccine. If you have kids that missed the series of shots, they can go to the health unit to catch up on the needles.

More about the vaccine is available on the Health Ontario website.

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