vidagirl.com

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common transmitted virus amongst sexually active couples — the American Social Health Association estimates that three out of four sexually active young people will contract HPV sometime in their lives. When a partner infects another, often the woman faces the most consequences. How? HPV causes the cell changes associated with cervical cancer.

University of Michigan Senior, Celeste Northern, explains HPV serves as an important issue for young women since “we are more susceptible to STDs than men because of the susceptibility of our genitalia,” she says.

We’ve all seen the televised infomercials: “Each year, approximately 12 thousand women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States.” However, those words have simply gone in one ear and out the other for many. Northern says the ineffectiveness of these commercials prompts her to discuss HPV with her friends. According to Northern, “who pays attention to commercials anymore?”

When learning about HPV, she never actively searched for more information but says she stumbled upon it in campus newspapers and flyers. These notices told Northern crucial facts, such as HPV has infected more than 75 percent of sexually active men and women at some time in their lives.

While a Pap smear can detect HPV, most of those infected are unaware. HPV comes in various forms, some infect solely the genital area by causing warts, others are the strands that cause warts on the hands or feet — these types do not cause genital warts or cervical cell changes. In men, genital warts may appear but most men with genital HPV do not have any symptoms. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, using condoms is 70 percent effective in preventing HPV infection as well as preventing precancerous cervical changes — so wrap it up.

“The best estimate at the moment is 10 percent of all cancer is caused by high-risk human papillomavirus, so that’s a very major part of the cancer burden,” Ian Frazer, Australian immunologist, told the Associated Press in an interview.

HPV causes 95 to 98 percent of all cervical cancer cases. Today, two-thirds of all cervical cancer cases occur in women younger than 25 years old — the younger a woman, the weaker her cervical cells. Only a small number of women infected with HPV develop the cell changes that cause cervical cancer, however, most of those infected may not even know. While the fear of knowing may be equivalent to the fear of not knowing, early detection means early treatment.

“I think people do need to get out and protect themselves,” says University of Michigan Minority Peer Advisor Iris Perez when asked about the risks of HPV. “This is a really important issue.” Being an advisor for young women of various racial minority groups, Perez says she wishes Universities did more to educate women about this health problem; however, she also says at least Universities are offering a solution.

Across American college campuses, University Health Services are beginning to administer the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, to women upon the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee. This first vaccine against a sexually transmitted disease, which is covered by most insurance plans, is given in 3-doses: the second dose is administered two months after the first and the third is administered six months after the first.

“I decided to get it,” Northern says. Comparing the vaccination procedure to that of the flu shot, she adds, “They just poke you in the arm then you go about your day.”

Frazer served as one of the experts who worked on the HPV vaccine and told the Associated Press that this new vaccine prevents most genital warts, 70 percent of cervical cancer as well as other forms of the disease.

The vaccine has been tested to protect against HPV’s causation of cancer, but does not treat disease. And if a woman already carries the HPV virus, the vaccine will not prevent disease from that type of virus.

These facts are scary, Perez says, but admits she could do more to inform herself and protect herself — as well as do the same for other women. She has yet to receive the vaccine.

For more information, call your local University Health Service to see if the HPV Vaccine is being offered.