The Human Papilloma Virus is one of the most common infections among those that are or have been sexually active.  Many of those infected are unaware and may pass it along unknowingly. Others may develop genital warts or even some forms of cancer.  There are over 100 strains of HPV and it is possible to be infected by one or multiple strains.  However, only a few of these have been definitively linked to a disease process. For example, HPV strain 6 and 11 are known to cause approximately 80 % of genital warts.  HPV 16 and 18 are associated with cervical cancer, which is the 2nd most common form of cancer in women worldwide.

The good news is that many of these HPV infections transmitted sexually clear on there own in about one or two years. It is the persistent infections that are thought responsible for the development of cancer.  Thankfully for females, the Pap smear was developed as a screening tool for the detection of cervical cancer and it has significantly reduced the incidence of cervical cancer in those areas where the Pap smear is performed regularly.

Men can also be infected by HPV and often are. As a matter of fact, men are considered the source of transmission of the sexually transmitted forms of this virus.  Aside from cervical cancer, many other forms of cancer are now being associated with HPV. This includes cancer of the mouth, the throat, the vagina, the anus, the penis and even the sinuses.  Though there is a screening process we use to detect cervical cancer, we have no such method in place for early screening of other forms of cancer related to HPV.

For all the aforementioned reasons, there is a race to find a vaccine or a cure.  Finally, the FDA has approved a quadrivalent vaccine against HPV.  This means that it vaccinates against 4 strains only, those strains being the ones that cause genital warts and cancer.  Although this is an incredible development, the vaccine is only approved for young girls and young women between 9 and 26 years of age.  Having said that, do not lose hope if you are a male or female, young or old, history of previous infection or not.  What this means is that the studies have been limited to that population, which is why it has only been approved for those individuals.  Many are advocating for further studies in men since they are the main vector of infection,  the idea being that if young boys were vaccinated then the disease process could be prevented in them and transmission would be greatly reduced.

Furthermore, the study had been inclusive of young women who had less than four sexual partners.  What about those men and women older than 26 who have not had that many sexual partners?  Should they be eligible?  And what if they had more than four but have perhaps not yet been exposed to some of the strains that the vaccine prevents?

Hang in there.  More studies are underway.  Meanwhile, using a condom is the best way to prevent the transmission of HPV during sexual activity.  For women, please get yearly Pap smears.

October 15, 2008