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The Human Papillomavirus ( Hpv ) Essay

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The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States among teens and young adults (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). HPV is known to attack epithelial cells and as many as 75% to 80% of males and females can become infected in their lifetime (Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., 2012). There are many different strains—some of which cause no symptoms and others that can cause genital warts, as well as various types of oropharyngeal and/or anogenital cancers. There are currently three vaccines licensed by the FDA since 2006—Cervarix, Gardasil, and Gardasil 9. These vaccines are a 3-dose series recommended for routine use among girls and boys at ages 11 and 12, and ages 13-26 for those who have not previously been infected. Although these vaccines do not protect against all HPV strains, they do protect against the two most common high-risk (cancer-causing) strains—types 16 and 18. In addition to preventing types 16 and 18, the Gardasil vaccine protects against the two most common low-risk (genital warts-causing) strains and the Gardasil 9 vaccine protects against five additional cancer-causing strains, as well as the other strains previously mentioned. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015)The purpose of the Bauldur-Felskov et al (2014) study was to assess the efficacy of the HPV vaccine against cervical lesions by comparing the incidence trends before and after the vaccination program was first implemented.

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