Recent Breakthroughs in Treating HPV
We still don’t have a cure for the human papilloma virus, but some recent breakthroughs have made prevention a lot easier. Perhaps the most major recent breakthrough is the advent of a genital HPV vaccine.
As you may or may not know, there are several types of genital HPV. Only a few types lead to genital warts, which, as ugly and uncomfortable as they are, are actually not dangerous and may leave nothing but some unfortunate scar tissue. Others actually cause no symptoms at all, but some can lead to cancer; cancer of the anus, the cervix, the penis, the vagina or the vulva. Even though most HPV is relatively benign, the risk of cancer should be enough motivation for anyone to practice as much prevention as seems necessary, and that’s exactly why this vaccine is so important.
The Catch
The vaccine is most effective in preventing HPV when given to boys and girls well before sexual activity with partners begins. This places the ideal age for vaccine recipients between 9 and 12 years of age.
While this may seem like an irrelevant detail, there is some very, very unfortunate controversy over this matter. There is no doubt that this vaccine is a positive thing, but nonetheless, it has come against some opposition from people claiming that an HPV vaccination for such young people would be giving children a virtual parental permission slip to become sexually active at a very young age.
Honest HPV Info
These are HPV facts, this HPV information is not blown up to put forth a political agenda or anything like that, but simply the facts on HPV and cervical cancer:
There are around 130 different strains of the HPV virus, with about 40 of them affecting the genitals and reproductive system. HPV test statistics suggest that about twenty million people in the United States alone are currently infected with some form genital HPV.
Genital HPV is so common, that about half of all sexually active people will contract some form of genital HPV or another at one point in their lives. For most people infected HPV, it won’t be a problem, but for others, it can develop into life threatening cancer. Even for the lucky women who survive cervical cancer, consider concerns regarding HPV and pregnancy. Tragically, many women are left sterile by the damage HPV, cancer, and invasive surgery leave behind in the reproductive organs. Any step towards a widespread vaccine is a good step.
The HPV vaccine itself, developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck, is very nearly one hundred percent effective against HPV 16 and HPV 18. These two types of HPV account for seventy percent of all cervical cancer. The vaccine also helps to prevent unsightly, uncomfortable genital warts. Other drug companies are developing their own vaccines, as well. Some of these are simply not on the market yet, while others are in earlier stages of development.
Fighting the Good Fight
Luckily, various groups are doing everything in their power to spread the good word on the HPV vaccine, and why it is so necessary. If you’d like to contribute to the effort to bring HPV prevention and medicine to the public consciousness, what you can do to help is actually quite easy. If you simply send a letter or e-mail to your congressman or other elected officials, voicing your support for groups like the Planned Parenthood Action Network, that may well go a long way.
You may also wish to send letters to local newspapers or other publications. Even bringing the subject up in casual conversation, word of mouth may be enough to help someone dodge the cancer bullet and live a full life. Basically, anything you can do to make sure just one or two more people know that there is a vaccine that can prevent HPV will be a big help for the cause, and it is an important cause. In 2003 alone, and just in the US, cervical cancer killed thirteen thousand women. With a vaccine, maybe this won’t happen again.
There is no treatment for HPV, no cure for genital warts, but by keeping a close eye on the early signs of genital warts systems, and by sharing the HPV statistics, perhaps we can help to prevent cases of female genital warts from developing into something more serious.