HPV: Sexually Transmitted Infection

Sometimes these lesions can be hard to see, so an examination may be needed. These warts can sometimes lead to the development of certain forms of cancer. Other symptoms can include irregular menstrual bleeding, vaginal pain, foul smelling discharge, and possible back and pelvic pain (WHO, 2016).

Prophylactic vaccination against high risk human papilloma virus 16 and 18 represents an exciting means of protection against HPV related malignancy. However, this strategy alone, even if there is a level of cross protection against other oncogenic viruses, cannot completely prevent cervical cancer. In some countries cervical screening programs have reduced the incidence of invasive cervical cancer by up to 80 percent although this decline has now reached a plateau with current cancers occurring in patients who have failed to attend for screening or where the sensitivity of the tests have proved inadequate. Cervical screening is inevitably associated with significant anxiety for the many women who require investigation and treatment following abnormal cervical cytology. However, it is vitally important to stress the need for continued cervical screening to complement vaccination in order to optimize prevention in vaccines and prevent cervical cancer in older women where the value of vaccination is currently unclear. It is likely that vaccination will ultimately change the natural history of HPV disease by reducing the influence of the highly oncogenic types HPV 16 and 18. In the long term this is likely to lead to an increase in recommended screening intervals. HPV vaccination may also reduce

HPV stands for genital human papillomavirus. It is a sexually transmitted virus and according to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), “More than half of sexually active men and women (in the United States) are infected with HPV at some time in their lives.” (CDC) The National Cancer Institute says there are more than 200 types of HPVs. (Institute) At least 12 of those HPVs cause certain types of cancer, like vaginal and cervical, and genital warts. If you have an HPV virus it usually goes away on its own, and doesn’t have any symptoms. But if it doesn’t go away experts say it is responsible for many of the 10,000 yearly cases of cervical cancer, causing 4000 deaths each year. (CDC)

If I told you that Human papillomavirus (HPV) was the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States and if left untreated could cause 70% of cervical cancers, would you want children to be required to get the vaccine? (Sourced) HPV vaccine is very controversial, not only because it is starting to be mandatory in the U.S but also because it is only mandatory for female children to get it. Researchers claim that the cancers associated with HPV cost $3.7 billion in 2003 alone. (Source) Cervical cancer is the second most lethal cancer to all women but should it be mandatory for only one gender even though men can carry it as well? (source)

What is HPV (human papilloma virus)? HPV is the most common STI (sexually transmitted infection). There is a definite link with cervical cancer, which can cause other cancers. The Gardasil vaccine was approved in 2006 and the key age for this vaccine is eleven years old (Whitehead). Moreover, females can get vaccinated up to the age of twenty-six and the vaccine will still be effective. In, addition, males can be vaccinated up to the age of twenty-one and the vaccine will still be effective (Whitehead). However, vaccinations are still not widely accepted and often have a bad reputation associated with them which makes it harder to propose the idea of vaccination. When vaccinating younger children parents are the main controversy (Whitehead). Many parents do not feel the need to vaccinate their child against a sexually transmitted infection because the key age for this vaccination is eleven years old. Many parents do not want to think that their young child could ever be sexually active. However, the reason for vaccination at such a young age is to prevent HPV from ever being a problem. In addition, the vaccine, Gardasil, is effective against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 (FDA). Furthermore, there is a link between Gardasil vaccination and race within society as a whole. This link can widen racial inequality more than it diminishes racial inequality.

Though there is no cure for HPV virus itself . There is plenty of treatments for genital warts that one can receive from a healthcare provider or medication , if left untreated , there is a possibility that the warts will go away , grow in number or size , or stay just the way they were . For the cancers ( infections ) it would

There are 200 different strands of the HPV virus. Forty types are spread through sexual contact. The good news is that most people who contract the HPV virus will not have any adverse health effects. However, nearly all cervical cancer cases are linked to the HPV virus. Cervical cancer kills 3,710 women each year. The HPV virus can also cause oral cancer.

HPV is highly contagious and infects almost everyone who is sexually active. Because it often doesn’t have noticeable symptoms, infected people can unknowingly spread it to their sexual partners. Often symptoms don’t develop until years after the initial exposure, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to determine who was first infected.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is currently thought to be the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States with roughly 79 million Americans currently affected (CDC,2015). There are over 120 identified types of HPV (CDC, pink book); most of which infect the cutaneous epithelium and cause common skin warts. Approximately 40 types of HPV infect the mucosal epithelium and are categorized according to their epidemiological association with cervical cancer: low risk type is associated with non-oncogenic types and cause benign or low-grad cervical cell abnormalities, genital warts and laryngeal papillomas. High Risk Types can cause low-grade cervical cell abnormalities, high grade cervical cell abnormalities or anogenital cancers less common than cervical cancer, such as cancer of the vulva, vagina, penis and anus. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss differences in the vaginal microbiome and metabolome of women who have been classified as HPV positive vs women who have been classified as HPV negative. These differences are based upon a preliminary analysis which showed pathway enrichment of lipids, sphingolipids and estrogen when comparing women that were HPV positive with women that were HPV negative. This paper is exploratory in nature; as these topics hold great value for the rest of my dissertation, I briefly explored the following topics of interest in order to gain further insight: HPV, the vaginal microbiome, the life-cycle of HPV, HPV

I. How would you feel if one day, you went to your OBGYN for a routine checkup and a pap-smear. Afterwards, a few days later your doctor calls you to inform you that your pap-smear is abnormal. After a biopsy is performed, you find out that you have HPV.

Most of the high risk HPV infections are asymptomatic and go away within 1 to 2 years and do not cause cancer . only those infections which

Most infections actually have none. Because of this, most people do not know they have been infected and they can therefore spread the virus to another person. It may take weeks or months after infection for the symptoms to show (Web Md). If a person does show symptoms they will typically experience the appearance of genital warts. Warts can vary in size, shape, or height. These warts can be removed by a doctor. People infected with general HPV won’t typically need treatment because the infection usually clears up on its own (Web Md).

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). HPV infection Is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by 30 to 40 of 130 or so strains of Human Papilloma Virus.

It is important to understand that anyone can get HPV infections, although some HPV infections required genital contact, there are mainly two categories of HPV infections. The first category causes warts (Cauliflower-like lesions) to grow on the hands and feet and is spread by skin to skin contact. The transmission does not require sexual contact of any kind, and this type does not cause cancer. The second category of infection is cause by sexual contact (not necessarily intercourse) with a partner who is already infected with one or more type of the HPV, some of which can cause cancer.

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a group of more than 200 related viruses. More than 40 HPV types can be easily spread through direct sexual contact via vaginal, anal, and oral sex (NIH-NCI, 2015). While high-risk HPV types cause approximately 5% of all cancers worldwide, in the United States, high-risk HPV types cause approximately 3% and 2% of all cancer cases among women and men respectively. Cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer, anal cancer, penile cancer, and oropharyngeal cancers can be caused by high-risk HPV (de Martel et al., 2012; Jemal et al., 2013).