Hello Everyone,
Recentlyrour family doctor mentioned the HPV vaccination for our daughter. What mystifies me is that I can’t recall ever hearing about HPV when I was young. I don’t recall it being mentioned in health class when discussing VD. In fact up until a few years ago I want even aware that HPV existed. Is this a relatively new disease or a renamed old one? How dangerous is it? Why are only females vaccinated?
I don’t know its history, but we definitely learned about it in the 90s. You’ve heard of women getting pap smears? One thing they check for is abnormalities due to HPV. However, I don’t know when they started doing that. The test is named after Georgios Papanikolaou, not papillomavirus. It doesn’t look like it was linked to cancer until the late 70s. Human papillomavirus infection - Wikipedia
At least one vaccine has been approved for boys.
Oh as for “how dangerous”, it is linked to many different cancers. See the Cancer section of the wiki article I linked.
Perhaps you recall being taught about genital warts in health class? That is HPV. Both girls and boys should be vaccinated long before any possibility of sexual activity. HPV causes a lot of health problems, not just cervical cancer. It causes genital warts, it increases the risk of lung cancer, and can cause an assortment of other cancers. Most efforts to prevent STD transmission do not stop HPV, and practically everyone becomes infected by it. A vaccine to prevent cancer is great, give this gift to your daughter.
It’s a virus which has probably been infecting humans for millenia, but which was only recognized relatively recently. It is very common, and a significant fraction of the population simply carries it.
It’s not promptly dangerous, it does not kill you quickly. In fact it is generally symptomless and most people who have it have no idea they have it. But once you are infected, it cannot be eradicated, and chronic infection can cause cervical cancer in women, and head and neck cancers in both sexes. The only cure is not to get infected in the first place – which is what the vaccine is for. (But note that you want this vaccine before becoming sexually active to minimize the chance of your having gotten the virus already.)
The vaccine does not protect against all forms of HPV, but it does significantly reduce a woman’s lifetime chance of cervical cancer. It also prevents her from unknowingly passing it on to her sexual partners. The same is true about men, by the way, in addition to reducing his personal odds of head and neck cancers, which is why it is a good idea for young men to get the vaccine as well.
Cervical cancer and venereal warts have been around a long time but only since modern DNA sequencing techniques have become readily available has it become clear that both conditions are caused by HPV and that HPV infection is common.
Women are at higher risk of more serious consequences from HPV infection than are men. They get cervical cancer, which is deadly if not detected early through screening (e.g., Pap smear), and they have abnormal Pap smears caused by HPV infection, which are a management headache and quite common. Men can get penile cancer and gay men can get anal cancer, both serious conditions but much less common than cervical cancer and precancerous lesions so one could say that the vaccine is more important for heterosexual women than heterosexual men.
Currently, HPV is recommended in the United States for both boys and girls. “ACIP recommends that routine HPV vaccination be initiated at age 11 or 12 years. The vaccination series can be started beginning at age 9 years. Vaccination is also recommended for females aged 13 through 26 years and for males aged 13 through 21 years who have not been vaccinated previously or who have not completed the 3-dose series (1). Males aged 22 through 26 years may be vaccinated.†” http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6411a3.htm
Background on HPV and HPV vaccines can be found at Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and at STD Facts - Human papillomavirus (HPV)
HPV vaccines only became available within the last ten years, and the launch of a mass vaccination programme probably accounts for more discussion, and the virus coming to the attention of a good many more people than it used to in the past.
When I was in school, it was called “warts”, and we weren’t told that “warts” was actually a whole family of viral illnesses.
When I was 20 (so, 1994-1995), I was diagnosed with abnormal squamous cells at a PAP smear. (I didn’t have any warts on my vulva, but apparently there was something on my cervix inside where I couldn’t see it.) The did a biopsy (imagine a really long toenail clipper nipping off a few chunks of the cervix) and was told it was “pre-cancerous cervical dysplasia”. I had to have my cervix frozen in a really awful procedure that caused the whole surface of my cervix to liquify and slough out over the next couple of weeks. It was really gross. And smelly.
It wasn’t until about 10 years later that a doctor at Planned Parenthood told me that what I had back then was almost certainly HPV.
So years ago, even those of us who had it weren’t always told that’s what it was.
Correct. Pap smears have been around for decades, and it is now known that many of the changes they detect are associated with a viral infection caused by HPV. So it is not new, but the association with HPV is now there, when it was not as strongly known before better techniques came along.
Also, there are numerous strains of HPV, and what is bad is the ones causing genital warts are actually the “benign” ones. The ones more likely to cause cancer do not show up as warts in the vulva but invade the cervix, which cannot be easily seen from the outside.
:eek:
I think I just snotted on myself!
HPV is associated with penile, anal and vaginal cancers. By vaccinating both boys and girls you increase the herd immunity and protect those not immunized.
I think the response was over the lack of the word “vaccine” in that quote.
:smack: Ha!
I got Ivygirl vaccinated within months of the vaccine becoming available.
There are ways to prevent cancer, and I’m glad I was able to add another layer of protection for my daughter.
My two sons have both had the vaccines.
Gardasil - it’s not just for girls anymore!
Actually, most cases of HPV, even high-risk types are cleared by the body’s immune system. The problem is dealing with the stubborn cases that progress to high grade dysplasia and invasive cancer.
The point about head and neck cancers is well-taken. It’s estimated that oropharyngeal (i.e. mouth and throat) cancers caused by HPV will exceed cervical cancers within a few years. There’s some evidence that the HPV vaccine offers protection against oropharyngeal cancers (which are considerably more common in men than in women).
If I had children eligible for the HPV vaccine, I’d want them to get it.
HPV is now linked to some oral & throat cancers and both of those are on the rise for boys & men.
Is there a blood test for HPV?
Not that I am aware of. As I understand it, in women they test a sample of cells from their cervix for the presence of DNA from several HPV strains. There is no test for men that i am aware of.
Hi,
The Human Papillomavirus has been there for a long time but it wasn’t until the 1980s when scientist realized the virus can actually result in cancer. The following small article is written in a very simple way and may answer some of your questions:
http://www.askmedicalresearchers.com/hpv-oral-cancer/
Happy Reading! 