HPV stands for Human Papilloma Virus. This is the virus responsible for genital warts. However, there are at least 130 strains of HPV. 2 strains at least have been connected with cervical cancer. The FDA has approved Gardasil and Cervarix, vaccines that target 4 strains of HPV, 2 known to cause genial warts, and 2 known to cause cervical dysplasia. Cervical dysplasia can develop into cervical cancer, but it can also resolve itself without treatment.
The CDC and FDA are recommending that the vaccine be given to girls between the ages of 11 and 12, and to women up to the age of 26. The idea is to get the vaccine before a woman becomes sexually active.
Many people have HPV and don't know it, and never have any symptoms with. It is classified as a sexually transmitted disease, but one can contract it without having sex. It is actually a contact disease.
Okay, I know this is gross, but here is an example of how someone can get HPV without having sex. What if someone with HPV masturbates, and then enters a public area and shakes your hand? Let's just say that sometime later, you go home and masturbate. You will most likely have contracted HPV. You might think that is very unlikely, but I happen to work in a psychiatric hospital where people masturbate a lot and don't wash, and they like to shake hands with staff members.
In fact you wouldn't necessarily have to masturbate to contract it, because it is contracted by contact with mucous membranes, which include your mouth and eyes.
I was listening to news radio the other day, and I am now kicking myself for not having noted the channel or the name of the man who was speaking, but he said that the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies are not telling the whole truth about the HPV vaccine. They are leaving out the fact that if a woman who ALREADY HAS HPV gets the vaccine, she actually increases the risk of getting cervical cancer.
I generally believe in vaccines, I am not an anti-vaccine person. But I think that it is important for people to be properly educated before getting vaccinated. This scares me, because if a young girl who is a virgin gets the vaccine without being tested for HPV, but does have HPV because of a situation like I described above, she is actually increasing her risk of getting cervical cancer.
Please, if anyone gets vaccinated, get tested for HPV first.
For more info see:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/Hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm
I have HPV, which I contracted from my boyfriend. Although, it tkes ten years to develop cervical cancer it is very serious. I am happy to see a blog about it bacause many people don't think being vaccinated is serious. When I contracted it I only had two shots. I deeply appreciate your blog and spreading the awareness. Don't follow me, follow my moves- Jay-Z
I didn't think Cervarix was available in these United States yet. And, while both vaccines protect against the 2 strains largely responsible for cervical cancer, Gardasil is the only vaccine that protects against genital warts as well.
I know Gardasil doesn't protect against HPV if you already have the strain, but I'm not sure about Gardasil actually increasing someone's chance of getting cervical cancer. I've tried googling it and the only websites I can find that support this claim are anti-vaccine websites. It would be nice to see the actual study done. It's easy for a website to claim that, if you already have the virus, your chances of getting cervical cancer (if you take gardasil) increase by 44.6%. But I don't know what the context of that number is. Maybe they tested Gardasil in 100 women who already had HPV and 44.6% of those women developed cervical cancer... but HPV causes cervical cancer so you wouldn't know if they were already predisposed to cervical cancer, or if gardasil really contributed to it. Any health care statistics I see or hear in the media I take with a grain of salt.
Annnd... I am not at all saying not to get these vaccines! I am getting my 3rd dose in November. But an important thing to know is the long term effectiveness of both of these vaccines hasn't been determined yet. It isn't known if the series of shots is good for a lifetime, or if booster shots are going to be needed later on.
Researchers are currently testing the vaccine's effectiveness in both males, and women over 26. Hopefully, those trials will show some positive results in the near future.
Good blog! :-)
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You are right, which is why I said that I was kicking myself for not making note of the name of the person who I heard speaking about it. I also would like to know the details of the research.
However, I felt it was important enough to comment on anyway.
Regardless of whether or not getting vaccinated on top of being already infected can or cannot be proven to increase the chances of developing cervical cancer, the vaccine will definitely not be effective. I think taking caution would be prudent. It is quick and inexpensive to test for HPV. It just means an extra swab during a routine PAP.
With any disease process it is not a good idea to re expose an organism with a virus or bacteria they have already contracted. You risk making an inactive, unsymptomatic host an active, symptomatic one.
TB is a good example, once someone has tested positive on a TB test, it is ill advised to test them again, because it could stimulate a symptomatic spread of the disease.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
There is an HPV test that can be done, but it won't tell you the specific strain of HPV you have, and it won't tell you if you've had HPV in the past (HPV sometimes clears up on its own).
If the test specified which strain you had, I would agree that girls should be tested before receiving the vaccine. However, there are so many strains, and the vaccine only protects against 4 of them. If a girl were to be screened for HPV, and the results were positive, there's really no way to know if the HPV she has is a strain found in the vaccine or not.
"What a crazy random happenstance!"
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Ok, need to clarify some things.
sawaboof, thanks for the challenge, you are forcing me to learn more!
You are right about Gardasil being the only FDA approved HPV vaccine.
I had cervical dysplasia, (CIN II). That is when my doctor explained to me about HPV and recommended I get tested for it. My test was positive, and he showed me the results. It listed the results for about 15 different strains.
So, when you said that the HPV test cannot specify what strain, I had to find out for sure. While the generic HPV test doesn't specify strains, a careful and cautious doctor can do further testing to isolate specific strains.
Below are just some more facts, the last one is where I got the info for the above statement.
"Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary factor in the development of nearly all cases of cervical cancer.[1] HPV vaccine effective against the two strains of HPV that cause the most cervical cancer has been licensed in the U.S. and the EU. These two HPV strains together are currently responsible for approximately 70%[2][3] of all cervical cancers." --Wikipedia, searched cervical cancer.
"More than 250 types of HPV are acknowledged to exist (some sources indicate more than 200 subtypes).[9][10] Of these, 15 are classified as high-risk types (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73, and 82), 3 as probable high-risk (26, 53, and 66), and 12 as low-risk (6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 70, 72, 81, and CP6108),[11] but even those may cause cancer. Types 16 and 18 are generally acknowledged to cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases. Together with type 31, they are the prime risk factors for cervical cancer.[12]" --Wikipedia, searched cervical cancer.
"A positive HPV DNA test indicates the presence of a high-risk type of HPV, but the test does not specify which type is present. If both are negative, it is unlikely that there is a high-risk HPV infection. If the Pap smear is abnormal but the HPV DNA test is negative, then follow-up testing and further monitoring are indicated."
"Typing of the HPV is not usually necessary. However, if it is done, then common findings may include:
# HPV types 6 and 11 typically cause venereal warts, and (along with types 42, 43, and 44) have a low risk of progressing to cancer.
# HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 39 have a higher risk of progressing to cancer."
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/hpv/test.html
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
Just curious because after I had my first one and it came back fine my doctor told me that i should get the shot. I get my last one in December. They also tried to tell me the shot does not hurt as bad in the ass, but I said screw that and told her to put it in my arm. Angel (my nurse) tried to say that it would hurt 20 times worse and it didn't hurt at all. I guess I am just pain tolerant. I don't think it really makes a difference where you get the shot really.
This was good information to know. Like a few people said I am not quite sure about whether it would increase the chance. I am some what skeptical about shots and medication because in my opinion I understand they need to get these things out quickly, but they don't test them long enough.
The tried to put me on Lexapro and Cembalta for my anxiety, but I don't care what they say they were not tested long enough on people with anxiety and both made mine even worse and I went crazy. I know everyone's chemistry is different and pills affect others differently, but they apparently won't work on me.
I know that was off subject but I felt the need to express that.
http://www.progressiveu.org/043043-mom-i-can-finally-write-you-letter
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DrifterDani~
HPV shows up in a Pap smear. If you have an abnormal pap smear, that's most likely the cause. If it's normal, you don't have it.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Yes and no.
The HPV test is an additional test, but uses the specimen obtained from the pap smear. If you don't request it or your doctor doesn't tell you he/she is going to do it, it won't be done.
They don't usually do an HPV test unless they have an abnormal pap smear. The problem is a person can have HPV and have a normal pap smear.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
I thought a normal pap smear meant you were in the clear. I learn something new here everyday!
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Pap smears aren't all that great of diagnostic tools anyway (because so many times, the results are too ambiguous to tell whether it's abnormal or not), but here's the basic idea...
HPV is a virus. It goes inside the cell. If it's dormant, then it won't affect the cell in any way, except that the DNA will be a little off (some huge portion of our DNA actually comes from this happening). If it's not dormant, then it will mess the cell up, including eventually rupturing it to move on to other cells. That's usually what will happen when you have an abnormal pap test... But it doesn't always have to be HPV that causes this irregularity.
~C
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