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The
American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, 11,070
women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S.
There is a vaccine for cervical genital HPV which was
introduced in 2006 to protect woman from contracting the
virus. It protects women against HPV subtypes 6 and 11,
which cause 90% of genital warts,
and 16 and 18, which together cause 70% of cervical cancers
in women. It has been considered safe by the CDC and has
been approved by the FDA.
The
vaccine is recommended for girls who are 12 or 13 and
it can be given to women as old as 26 who have not been
diagnosed with the disease or who have not previously
been given the vaccine. Research has shown that the vaccine
is 95-100% effective at protecting women from contracting
HPV, but it is not as effective for women who are already
sexually active, as they may have already been infected
with the virus.
As
the vaccine also targets cervical cancer the vaccine is
commonly known as the cervical cancer vaccine rather than
the genital warts vaccine. Even with the genital warts
vaccine women will still need to have pap smears regularly
to check for cervical cancer, as 30% of cervical cancers
are not covered by the vaccine.
The
vaccine has started to be tested on men and has been approved
for men in some areas in the UK. Some experts recommend
yearly anal Pap tests for gay and bisexual men and for
HIV-positive persons because anal cancer is more common
in these populations.
Once
a person contracts the genital warts virus, a quiet period
of months or years can occur. Sometimes several years
can go by without any symptoms at all. However even without
showing any symptoms it still leaves a healthy partner
vulnerable to becoming infected with the virus during
sexual activity. genital warts are not something you want
to risk infecting others with, and need to be treated
as they are very contagious!
(see
genital warts facts).
If
a woman suspects that they may have been exposed to the
HPV virus, but doesn't yet have any symptoms, their doctor
can take a swab to test for strains of the virus (available
in most countries). Woman can get this performed alongside
a cervical Pap smear test
(see
vaginal warts).
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