Oct 16 (Reuters) - Girls who had been vaccinated against human
papillomavirus (HPV) weren't more likely to get other sexually
transmitted infections or to become pregnant, according to a
U.S. study. This goes against worries on the part of some that
getting the vaccine, which is supposed to ultimately help
prevent cervical cancer, would encourage girls to become
sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise
would. "Some parents have expressed it as a concern," said Saad
Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory
University in Atlanta who worked on the study, which was
published in Pediatrics. "Parents can be reassured at least
based on the evidence that young girls who receive HPV vaccines
did not show increased signs (of) clinical outcomes of sexual
activity." The vaccine, which has been recommended for 11- and
12-year-old girls in the United States since 2006, is still
controversial, and only about half of girls start the series of
shots. One argument against it has been t