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| 5/26 |
| 2005/5/6-7 [Health/Disease/General] UID:37556 Activity:kinda low |
5/6 So infuriating it deserves to be posted again. US Religious groups
opposing HPV (genital warts) vaccination on moral grounds. Thousands
of womens lives will be saved from cervical cancer by these vaccines.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/mg18624954.500
More details from CDC on HPV:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm#common
Over 50 percent of sexually active men and women contract it in their
lifetimes, and by the age of 50, 80 percent of women will have
contracted the virus. While many cases of HPV disappear of their own
accord, it is the main risk factor in contracting cervical cancer for
women. The vaccines nearing approval prevented infection in over
90 percent of cases...
\_ Only sentence I found in the article supporting your claim is this:
"In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose
vaccination ..."
I think parents, not government should decide whether or not to
I think parents should have the right to decide whether or not to
vaccinate their pre-legal age daughters.
\_ Idiotic. Would you make measles, mumps and rubella vaccination
"optional" as well?
\_ Seriously, idiotic. If there were a safe HIV vaccine which
you could administer to children, would you say the same?
Also, another sentence is "Abstinence is the best way to
prevent HPV." This is only true if abstinence moved from a
personal choice to a perfectly executed legal requirement.
When half of the population are carriers, and carriers are most
often completely asymptomatic, the only effective way to prevent
infection, even if you remain abstinent until marriage, is this
vaccine for now. |
| 5/26 |
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| www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/mg18624954.500 Advertising DEATHS from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 20 50, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-b e-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer - but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths. The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitt ed. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before the y become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries. In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccin ation, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinatin g their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bri dget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby gro up that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin co ntact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against othe r viruses such as HIV. "Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, beca use they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher cla ims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the v irus. Meanwhile in developing countries, where 80 per cent of deaths from cervi cal cancer occur, social taboos may be even more powerful. The head of t he Indian Council of Medical Research, N K Ganguly, says it will take a big educational effort to convince parents. Vaccinating men could be t he best way to prevent the spread of HPV among women. Half of all sexually active women between 18 and 22 in the US are infected. Most cases clear up, but sometimes infection persists and can cause cancer decades later. Deaths in the west have plummeted thanks to widespread screening to detec t cancers early. But such screening is not widely available in developin g countries. In many, populations are ageing: in India the number of wom en over 60 is projected to rise from 40 million now to 168 million in 20 50. The International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, cal culates that by then deaths from cervical cancer will reach a million a year in poor countries if rates of infection, and of cancer detection an d treatment, do not improve. While vaccination could slash infection rates, its cancer-preventing bene fits will not be evident for decades, as it will take that long for vacc inated girls to reach an age when they might otherwise have developed ca ncer. Meanwhile, millions of women who are already infected must be scre ened and treated. If there is widespread resistance to vaccination, it w ill take even longer for its benefits to become clear. Vaccines are producing good results in clinical trials, and the first cou ld be licensed as early as next year. GlaxoSmithKline announced in Novem ber 2004 that its vaccine, which contains two strains of HPV thought to cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers, had prevented 90 per cent of new infections and all persistent infections. The US-based firm Merck announ ced similar results last week with its vaccine, which contains the same two cancer-causing HPV strains plus two strains that cause genital warts . Vaccinating men could be the best way to prevent the spread of the cance r-causing virus among women Merck's official reason for including the warts strains is that they can confuse screening tests, leading to unnecessary scares. But another reas on, says Anne Szarewski of the charity Cancer Research UK, who is helpin g to organise one of the vaccine trials, is that men who get vaccinated to prevent disfiguring warts will no longer transmit the cancer-causing strains to women. That might be the key to getting vaccines accepted in cultures where trying to prevent sexually transmitted infections is equa ted with promiscuity. "We found that some Asian women in Britain are afraid even to get tested for HPV infection, because they say if it is positive they will be kille d, never mind that their husbands probably gave it to them," says Szarew ski. She feels that such attitudes may mean that HPV vaccination may be a non-starter in such communities. Greg Zimet of Indiana University in Indianapolis is more optimistic. His surveys in the US show parents overwhelmingly favour getting their daugh ters vaccinated. India is planning to do its own clinical trials, but will not test the vaccine in young girls. "This is not possible until around the age of marriage in India," Ganguly says. Once licensed, the vaccine should be given to younger girls, he says. Ganguly is trying to arrange for an HPV v accine to be produced cheaply in India. But there are fears India's new patent laws will make licensing deals difficult. |
| www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm#common Genital HPV infection is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is cau sed by human papillomavirus (HPV). Human papillomavirus is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different strains or types . More than 30 of these viruses are sexually transmitted, and they can i nfect the genital area of men and women including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside the vagina), or anus, and the linings of the vagina , cervix, or rectum. Most people who become infected with HPV will not h ave any symptoms and will clear the infection on their own. Some of these viruses are called "high-risk" types, and may cause abnorma l Pap tests. They may also lead to cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus, or penis. Others are called "low-risk" types, and they may cause m ild Pap test abnormalities or genital warts. Genital warts are single or multiple growths or bumps that appear in the genital area, and sometime s are cauliflower shaped. Approximately 20 million people are currently infected with HPV. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infecti on at some point in their lives. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. About 62 million Americans g et a new genital HPV infection each year. The types of HPV that infect the genital area are spread primarily throug h genital contact. theref ore, most infected persons are unaware they are infected, yet they can t ransmit the virus to a sex partner. Rarely, a pregnant woman can pass HP V to her baby during vaginal delivery. A baby that is exposed to HPV ver y rarely develops warts in the throat or voice box. What are the signs and symptoms of genital HPV Most people who have a genital HPV infection do not know they are infecte d The virus lives in the skin or mucous membranes and usually causes no symptoms. Some people get visible genital warts, or have pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, vulva, anus, or penis. Very rarely, HPV infection results in anal or genital cancers. Genital warts usually appear as soft, moist, pink, or flesh-colored swell ings, usually in the genital area. They can be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large, and sometimes cauliflower shaped. They can ap pear on the vulva, in or around the vagina or anus, on the cervix, and o n the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. After sexual contact with an infe cted person, warts may appear within weeks or months, or not at all. Visible genital warts c an be removed by medications the patient applies, or by treatments perfo rmed by a health care provider. Some individuals choose to forego treatm ent to see if the warts will disappear on their own. No treatment regime n for genital warts is better than another, and no one treatment regimen is ideal for all cases. Most women are diagnosed with HPV on the basis of abnormal Pap tests. A P ap test is the primary cancer-screening tool for cervical cancer or pre- cancerous changes in the cervix, many of which are related to HPV. Also, a specific test is available to detect HPV DNA in women. The test may b e used in women with mild Pap test abnormalities, or in women >30 years of age at the time of Pap testing. The results of HPV DNA testing can he lp health care providers decide if further tests or treatment are necess ary. There is no "cure" for HPV infection, although in most women the infectio n goes away on its own. The treatments provided are directed to the chan ges in the skin or mucous membrane caused by HPV infection, such as wart s and pre-cancerous changes in the cervix. What is the connection between HPV infection and cervical cancer? All types of HPV can cause mild Pap test abnormalities which do not have serious consequences. Approximately 10 of the 30 identified genital HPV types can lead, in rare cases, to development of cervical cancer. Resear ch has shown that for most women (90 percent), cervical HPV infection be comes undetectable within two years. Although only a small proportion of women have persistent infection, persistent infection with "high-risk" types of HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer. A Pap test can detect pre-cancerous and cancerous cells on the cervix. Re gular Pap testing and careful medical follow-up, with treatment if neces sary, can help ensure that pre-cancerous changes in the cervix caused by HPV infection do not develop into life threatening cervical cancer. The Pap test used in US cervical cancer screening programs is responsible for greatly reducing deaths from cervical cancer. For 2004, the America n Cancer Society estimates that about 10,520 women will develop invasive cervical cancer and about 3,900 women will die from this disease. Most women who develop invasive cervical cancer have not had regular cervical cancer screening. How can people reduce their risk for genital HPV The surest way to eliminate risk for genital HPV infection is to refrain from any genital contact with another individual. For those who choose to be sexually active, a long-term, mutually monogam ous relationship with an uninfected partner is the strategy most likely to prevent future genital HPV infections. However, it is difficult to de termine whether a partner who has been sexually active in the past is cu rrently infected. For those choosing to be sexually active and who are not in long-term mut ually monogamous relationships, reducing the number of sexual partners a nd choosing a partner less likely to be infected may reduce the risk of genital HPV infection. Partners less likely to be infected include those who have had no or few prior sex partners. HPV infection can occur in both male and female genital areas that are co vered or protected by a latex condom, as well as in areas that are not c overed. While the effect of condoms in preventing HPV infection is unkno wn, condom use has been associated with a lower rate of cervical cancer, an HPV-associated disease. Sexually Transmitted Dise ases Treatment Guidelines 2002. Natural history of cer vicovaginal papilloma virus infection in young women. Kiviat NB, Koutsky LA, Paavonen J Cervical neoplasia and other STD-relat ed genital tract neoplasias. Mathematical model for the natural history of human papillomavirus infection and cervical c arcinogenesis. Sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infect ion in pregnancy. Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates W Sexually transmitted disease among Americ an youth: Incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000. |