Human papilloma virus (HPV) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Human papilloma virus (HPV) - Essay Example High-risk HPV 16 and 18 are most commonly associated with cervical, vulvar, vaginal, penile, oropharyngeal cancer and anal cancers.3 In females, cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer worldwide, and the third most common cause of mortality from cancer.2 Additionally, 80% of cases occur in developing countries.3 Although low-risk HPVs (such as type 6 and 11) are not cancerous, they can still cause benign or minimal abnormalities of cervical cells, such as skin  warts  on or around the genitals or anus, and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).3 These figures are a global public health concern. This report addresses why HPV is a public health problem in developed countries and evaluates the policies and strategies taken to deal with HPV infection. HPV is an entirely mucosal infection and does not include a bloodstream phase. While HPV is sexually transmitted, penetrative sexual intercourse is not necessary for transmission to occur. Many researches indicate unprotected genital contact is a well-documented mode of infection, including genital–genital, oral–genital and manual–genital contact.4-6 For both genders, the infection rate is increased soon after becoming sexually active. Indeed, half of sexually active men and women are infected with several HPV types at any point in their lives, and some may be repeatedly infected. In 2011, Hariri et al. (2011) conducted a nationwide population-based study in the US to investigate the prevalence of both high/low-risk HPV in 14–59 year old females during 2003–2006.7 They found the overall prevalence of high- and low-risk HPV was 43% among 14-59 year old women. They also found those aged 20-24 years are more likely to be affected by high-risk HPV, and the risk decreases with age. Recent figures show almost 7% of adults are infected by oral HPV during their lifetime.8,9 Gillison et al. (2012) conducted a cross-sectional study in