The following is a direct copy of a post my wife placed on another board: I am interested in your reactions.
I had a former student call me Friday. She has been diagnosed with HPV. After spending the last couple of day reading as much as I can about it, I am really scared for ALL the young women in my life. I am trying to distill my scattered thoughts, so I picked the 10 most unnerving things about this virus…
The virus is so small that it goes right through condoms!
Up to 30% of women who have had 1 partner, have been exposed to it. 33-38% of all young college women are know to have it. The actual stats are probably higher because the college girls don’t get regular pap smears.
By the time you have had just 2 partners you have a 75-80% chance of exposure.
It can lay dormant and undetected for 20-30years or more before causing cervical cancer.
Over 90% of all cervical cancer can be linked to this virus.
If you build up your immune system, the virus “seems” to go away, but they haven’t been able to study it long enough to know if it is just in a dormant or mutating stage. They also “burn” off the warts or mutated cells with lasers or liquid nitrogen.
There are over 30 mutations of this virus already. Some are very high risk for agressive cancers. You can be infected with more than one strand of this virus.
Other than penial cancer, in rare cases, the guys just seem to be carriers. The run a much greater risk if they are uncircumcised.
It can be, but usually isn’t passed to a baby.
It lives and grows with warmth and moisture, so sharing a towel that dried a genital region could tranfer the virus–not likely, but very possible.
The other thing that really upset me is that the doctor told my former student (a 21 yr old college student now) NOT to tell her parents. Just tell them she had an abnormal pap smear and needed a few more “tests” instead of treatments. This made me so angry that I wanted to scream.
Here a girl just hears some of the most shocking news she is going to hear in her life and she needs the comfort and support of parents, but no, we just need to “hide” this dirty little secret. On the other hand the doctors are the ones who are supposed to be fighting to get information out and fight the stigmas. I quess we are supposed to tell the world on Jerry Springer, but not our parents in the privacy and security of our homes. It just really burns me up!
This young women had done nothing “risky”. She had one sexual partner and they had always used a condom. She was 20 when she had sex for the very first time, which is pretty old in this day and age! She had done nothing to be ashamed of and the doctor was not giving her parents the chance to show her unconditional love. I, of course, told her to tell her parents, and offered to be there when she did if she needed me. She told me that she thought she could tell them on her own and she had just wanted my opinion since the doctor was advising her strongly NOT to tell them.
So, PLEASE let the young women in your lives know how real this is. When I looked back at the books we used for sex-ed, I saw a couple sentences about this virus in the whole book and it was a book meant to give young people a very healthy respect for STDs- not scare them, but arm them with all the details. I feel like this information is too important not to be put into the hands of our young people!
It is extremely scary. I had a very close friendship with a woman about 7 years older than me through the net who died from cervical cancer, most likely caused by this sexually transmitted disease.
Maybe this will be a warning siren out to people telling them that just grabbing a condom and having a go with any random person still doesn’t mean you’re completely safe. You need to have some knowledge on the person’s background before you just go sleeping around and “living up your singledom.”
I’ve actually known people who, when I brought up this issue, have said “Why the hell do you care? You’re a guy, you can’t get cervical cancer.” That’s a rather disgusting attitude to have about the potential to spread this virus from one woman to the next.
Mostly I think it’s being downplayed because it only increases the risk of cancer. HPV is not a death sentence like HIV. But the fact that 90% of all cases of cervical cancer are being caused by this virus shows that it’s no small matter.
The most shocking news she’s ever going to be in her life is “you’re in the same boat as 80% of your peers?” Wow, lucky girl.
Could have been much worse, although that’s small comfort to her.
What lifetime movie of the week is your wife living in where 1. twenty year old adults are compelled to share every detail of their private lives with their parents and 2. neither she or the student have ever heard the stats on HPV? The informations not exactly new, nor is a diagnosis a death sentence, and why should the student tell her parents or not tell them based on something a teacher or doctor said?
Yes, it’s crappy to do everything “right” and still catch HPV, guess that’s why the numbers are so high huh? A twenty-year old student I expect some over-dramatization from, what’s up with the teacher?
Now, before we get hysterical, it should be noted that only certain HPV strains (there are over 100 in all, and about 30 are spread through sexual contact) have been linked to cervical cancer. Furthermore, most women with those types do not develop cervical cancer. And the strains which most commonly cause warts aren’t linked to cancer. So if you get anything from being infected with those strains, it will be warts, which are not the end of the world, just a nuisance that usually disappears after a few instances. And you can have them removed in the same way you get any warts removed.
BTW, condoms do reduce the risk of transmission. The issue is mainly that they don’t cover enough genital skin area to completely eliminate the risk (what are you going to do, shag in a wetsuit?).
Not to minimize the serious effects that can occur in some people, but as you can see, many of these infections don’t produce any symptoms or harmful side effects.
By the way, herpes can be passed even if you’re wearing a condom, so it’s not like HPV is unique in this respect.
I did get HPV from my first partner - we were monogamous, he tested clean, I was a virgin. I’m over it - yes, I do get abnormal paps, I’m aware of the risk, and I’m still alive - chances of me dying from something other than cervical cancer, at this point in my life, are still more likely than cancer itself - I get tested yearly, and would regardless of the fact that I was infected.
It is not the huge-drama fest that you are playing it up to be. Especially when you look at the infection rates. Especially when now, you know of two people who got it from their first partners and who played it safe. What the heck else would we have done? (I could have waited until I got married, yes, but that is no guarantee in this day and age that you will have only one partner life-long anyways.)
HPV is hardly a new issue: genital warts were described in classical Greek medical texts and were known even then to be related to sexual activity. The association between sexual activity and cervical cancer has been suspected since the 1800’s, but the actual viral agent responsible has only been identified in the last 20 yrs or so.
The incidence of invasive cervical cancer has fallen by about 50% in the last thirty years, mostly due to increased Pap test surveillance. An average 20 year old woman has a 0.76% lifetime risk of developing cervical cancer, and the median age of diagnosis is 48.
Among patients with HPV detected by sensitive viral DNA testing, 70% have cleared the infection by 1 year and 91% by 2 years. Of course, it is possible to be reinfected with a different strain of the virus.
As for " the most shocking news she will hear in her life"? Hardly. “Mom, Dad, I seem to have contracted a virus that is already so endemic in the population that it is virtually a marker for sexual activity. This virus has been around for thousands of years, long enough to mutate into over 100 strains. I consider this a wake-up call and will certainly continue to be careful about sex in the future. I will also get routine Pap tests, because all sexually active women should get them, as should virgins over 21. If, in 10-15 years, I develop precancerous cervical cells, my doctor and I will deal with it then. There are ongoing trials of vaccines for HPV, both prevantative and therapeutic. And the rate of cervical cancer has been falling steadily anyway due to improved early testing methods and treatments. Oh, and this was such a shattering event for me that I talked with an old teacher of mine before I talked to you.” Or she could just, you know, not tell them.
Somebody help me digest the statistics being tossed about.
So, “up to 30% of women who have had 1 partner, have been exposed to it.” Not sure about why that comma’s in there. That’s, then, the upper end of a range. What’s the lower end?
“By the time you have had just 2 partners you have a 75-80% chance of exposure.” Now, my grasp of statistics is tenuously based on a college course in such passed almost 30 years ago, so some of the choicer mellons may have fallen off the truck since then. But I don’t easily see how having had one partner gives an exposure potential up to 30% while having had two partners bumps that to 80%. Perhaps I’m missing some sociopsychological factor that differentiates women who’ve only fucked one guy versus those who’ve actually fucked a second guy.
And, I’ll admit, I don’t know how to factor in that “33-38% of all young college women are know[sic] to have it.”
So, please explain to me what this is all supposed to mean. What are the ultimate effects of HPV?
At this point, this kind of sounds like yet another “let’s fret mightily about small potatoes” campaign.
There are 30 distinct types of HPV that can infect the genital area. Of these, some types cause genital warts, and others cause subclinical infections, noted as such because they are invisible or cannot be seen. Genital warts are extremely common, but can be treated and cured. Subclinical HPV infection is much more common than genital warts, and there is currently no treatment. The disease can lead to cervical, penile and anal cancer.
Most HPV infections appear to be temporary and are probably cleared up by the body’s immune system. One study in college students showed that in 91 percent of women with new HPV infections, HPV became undetectable within two years (Ho, 1998). However, reactivation or reinfection is possible.
Persistent cervical infection with certain types of HPV is the single most important risk factor for cervical cancer. HPV type 16 accounts for more than 50 percent of cervical cancers and high-grade dysplasia-abnormal cell growth. HPV type 16, along with types 18, 31, and 45 account for 80 percent of cervical cancers (Bosch, 1995; Shah, 1997).
Also from the CDC: this will download a PDF from the CDC
I suppose I’m concerned because it is considered second in importance to AIDS [the scariest thing out there] and there is little to no information generally disseminated about it. One sex education book used gives HPV a single sentence in an entire book about sexuality and possible ramifications of pre-marital sexual activity.
My apologies if my wife is living in a After School Special where she tutors individual students and develops a mentoring relationship with them. I’m sure that if your child developed an STD they’d run and tell you first thing. My wife is a positive role model for many of her students and that is why they sometimes come to her as they move into college and life in general. Their contact with her as a mentor allowed them to move beyond the labelling and lower expectations that the school system placed on them and strive to better themselves, when in fact they were expected to be a burden on society and their parents.
I’m sure if the statistics for Penile Cancer from HPV were on a par with the Cervical Cancer danger rate, it would be taken more seriously.
A hearty thank you to all who see how postentially dangerous this has become with about a half dozen strains linked to Cervical Cancer not to mention the potential for these more dangerous strains to remain with you throughout your life.
I’m just surprised at the surprise, is all. Is that sex-education book you’re referring to very outdated or something? I’m 34 and remember hearing about HPV in high school, particularly memorable since the name was so close to HIV but slightly different. I’ve seen numerous comprehensive articles in women’s magazines and especially 'zines aimed at the younger crowd, like Sassy and Seventeen. Planned Parenthood is a major educational resource, they have literature about it and comprehensive coverage on their site.
AIDS kills, why shouldn’t it get more emphasis? HPV covers so many individual strains, most have very little impact, and even the cervical cancer link doesn’t ring gloom and doom bells since it’s one of the slowest-growing cancers and there’s good testing protocol in place already. HIV is more dangerous and more preventable with safe sex, all well and good to shout it from the rooftops.
For the record, in case this was a comment at the posters here, I’m a woman. I know women who have genital HPV infections. I was going to say "who have HPV infections without the qualifier, but HPV’s 70-some other strains cause things like plantar warts and various other maladies elsewhere which aren’t sexually transmitted at all. In that case, I would be able to specify that I’ve had HPV as well, having had plantar warts on my feet in my early teen years.
I’m also in my mid-30s and had a good sex education background, and learned about HPV. That it seems to be a mysterious ailment to teenagers these days doesn’t bode well for sex education in this country lately.
I’m wondering why it should be so critical for a 21-year-old to tell her parents about something like this if she doesn’t want to? She’s an adult, after all.
It’s critical because her parents love her and would totally not think that having contracted an STD meant she’d been whoring around. 'Cause no parent ever has that sort of reaction. And thjey would totally not read a bit about the disease and then freak out that she’s going to die, 'cause nobody ever has that reaction either.
Really, there are lots of good reasons for not telling her parents she’s got HPV. First and foremost, it’s none of their freakin’ business. She’s an adult and entitled to privacy as regards her sexual history and medical issues. The second is the potential for them to react badly, either by calling her a slut or by shrieking and wailing about how she’s going to get the cancer. There’s absolutely zero point scaring the shit out of them over nothing. And frankly, right now this is a whole lot of nothing. She has some strain of HPV, but nobody knows which strain, so right now freaking out is total overreaction.
As a parent of an almost 21 year old daughter, I would say that it’s her decision to inform me about her health–STD or not. While I think that HallGirl 1 and I have the type of relationship where she would tell me something like that if the situation arose, I know of many girls who do not have that type of relationship with their parents. I would not have told my mother had I been in a situation like that.
During my yearly GYN check up, my dr and I discussed this (among other risks). According to what she said, (I’m paraphasing) there are so many people out there who have been exposed to HPV, that it would be difficult to find someone of my age bracket who had NOT been exposed to HPV.
We must also keep in mind that cervical cancer is one of the most treatable forms of cancer. It should not be much of a threat as long as you get your pap smears.
First, Yes, AIDS is scarier and a more important thing to know about. I never intended for it to be slighted at all.
Second, depending on your relationship with your parents, you share what you are comfortable with. If the young adult is in college and it is being underwritten by parents, it becomes their issue – especially since their insurance is going to cover it.
Third, if you are beyond financial entanglements with your parents and on your own you share important information as it pertains to those you love and who care about you.
Finally, The potential ramifications of the more serious strains are what shocked me. I’m a good deal older and hadn’t the advantage of sex education classes – which, BTW I support-- plus, I think it is common enough and problematic enough (this is HPV I’m talking about here) that it should be discussed at lenghth including time you need to abstain from sex, the potential danger of oral sex (being unable to breathe I count as a problem) immune strenghtening that can help clear it up faster, and the fact that condoms don’t protect from it are all things people should be aware of when making the choice to be sexually active.
Finally, I’m not here to condem anyone – I just thought it was important enough to share.
I would probably tell my mom if something like this came up with me, but I’m nearly 29 and out on my own – it’d be a matter of “Did this ever happen to you? What did you do about it?” I’m lucky enough to have that kind of relationship with her. But otherwise, it’d be none of her business, and there’s no other reason I’d tell her. Now if it turned out that I had actual CANCER, I’d tell her, no doubt. But about just the virus? I don’t see why I’d have to if I didn’t feel like it, I’d just get regular checks, which I do anyway.
In this case, she’s 21, and it’s her option whether to tell, insurance or not. I don’t think insurance companies can tell the parents what she was seen for anyway, can they?
Is this true? I knew that condoms don’t offer complete protection, but I thought that was because they don’t cover all vulnerable skin, and HPV (unlike some other STDs) can be passed by skin contact.
FWIW, here’s what Cecil had to say about the AIDS virus passing through condoms.
Most insurance companies send an explanation of benefits when they pay a claim, but they’re usually pretty vague. “Office visit”, “laboratory services”, that sort of thing. Or at least mine have been. And my insurance sent the explanation of benefits to me instead of my parents, anyway.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around the notion that paying her insurance premiums entitles her parents to an accounting of her sexual history. That’s just…bizarre.
