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Human Papillomavirus : Common Sexually Transmitted Infection Essay

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection. HPV family of viruses comprises many oncogenic and non-oncogenic types that cause anal, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers and anogenital warts in men respectively. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at particularly high risk for HPV infection and HPV-related disease (Markowitz et al., 2014). In one study, oncogenic HPV types 16 and/or 18 were detected in 37% of MSM between ages 16 and 30 years (Glick et al., 2014). Anal cancer rates are more than 17 times higher among MSM compared to their heterosexual counterpart (Daling et al., 2004, Joseph et al., 2008; Machalek et al., 2012). Anal cancer rates are even higher among HIV-positive MSM (Silverberg et al., 2012). Moreover, recent data revealed a rapid increase in HPV associated oropharyngeal cancers rates among men in the United States (Charturvedi et al., 2011). Aside from cancer, HPV associated anogenital warts negatively affect quality of life and are expensive to treat (Woodhall et al., 2011). Close to 7% of gay and bisexual men report history of genital warts. (Dinh et al., 2008) While three FDA approved vaccines are available in the US, only Gardasil and Gardasil 9 are approved for use in males. HPV vaccines are highly effective in preventing infection with the types of HPV they target when given before initial exposure to the virus, mainly before individuals begin to engage in sexual activity. To date, protection against the targeted HPV types has

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