Any individual who is currently or has in the past been sexually active may have been exposed to the virus. Since entering college in 1994, I have met five women and one man who knew they had HPV, only because genital warts had appeared. Each individual’s doctor explained that HPV was a STD that could not be eliminated, because it was a virus and could remain latent for a very long time. Some were told that condoms would protect against the virus, because the virus was spread through bodily fluids. Others were told that skin

The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a national random sample survey of 1,006 Americans. The goal was to measure Americans’, 18 and older, knowledge of and interest in news media health stories, from the previous month. They found that when Americans were asked what STDs they could name, 11 percent named genital warts and two percent named HPV. The two were the lowest on the scale. When asked if they had heard of HPV, 28 percent said they had, 70 percent had not, and two percent did not know. Of the Americans who had heard of HPV, 42 percent knew it is sometimes associated with genital warts, 41 percent knew it is

Of course, a person needs good health insurance or a decent sum of money to subject themselves to the examinations and treatments around HPV. Since many in our society cannot afford medical expenses, stronger education is required. First, we need to educate our parents, so they have the information to be relayed in their own way. Second, we need to educate our teachers. And finally, our kids need to understand. All need to learn not only what the virus is and can do, but also how to talk about it. Many Americans do not know how to talk about STD and especially HPV, since most do not understand the virus. When HPV and other STD’s are discussed in sex education classes, by parents, and physicians, it is often the worst case scenario. Our younger generations need to know their options and how we can all work through these problems together.

Three points were given concerning public health/prevention activities involving surveillance for genital HPV infection and seguelae. The three points are 1) reporting of all HPV infections is not necessary on a routine bases, at this time 2) in order to guide future directions in genital warts surveillance, CDC should conduct further analysis of the experience with genital warts reporting in various states 3) “surveillance for HPV-related cancers should be enhanced in ways that contribute to understanding the causative role of HPV infection and prevention strategies, e.g., special studies using population bases cancer registries to ascertain sexual preferences for men with anogenital cancers (CDC, 3).”

From the literature I have read, and the infected and uninfected people I have known and talked with through the years, what I have consistently gathered about HPV is that it is a virus of many different types, ranging from 80 to 100 variations. Many of these types remain silent for extended periods of time, often entire lifetimes. Symptoms arise when the immune system is down, such as during pregnancies, and vary depending on which type of HPV was contracted. Some HPV types have symptoms of warts and forms of cancer, such as HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-31, and HPV-45. Other HPV types show signs of warts, but do not result in cancer, such as HPV-6 and HPV-11 (National Cancer Institute, 1). Types have been mentioned that never result in any symptoms, but I could not locate specific information. An extreme percentage of women with cervical cancer first had HPV, many not finding out until cancer or abnormal cells are detected. The National Cancer Institute did not mention a HPV ty!

As I reviewed HPV literature obtained from the web, I related to the cries for consistency. According to the article Passion 4 Purity, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (ACOG) “lobbied Congress against a warning label for condoms, which would state that they do not protect against this sexually transmitted disease… (1).” Why would the ACOG do such a thing, unless they do not know for sure that condoms do not protect against HPV. The author also stated that the ACOG fought attempts to launch HPV education campaigns nationally. But a survey conducted by the ACOG showed that out of the 523 high school, inner-city kids questioned, “87 percent had never heard of HPV and only one in three sexually experienced teens considered themselves at risk for H

Some topics in this essay:
ACS CDC, Cancer Institute, Patient Information, LSIL HSIL, Vicki Welton, Americans STDs, Digene’s HPV, Patient Answers, Rutger University, Senior Schools, cervical cancer, genital warts, genital hpv, sex education, hpv infection, hpv infections, hpv vaccines, cancer screening, skin contact, pap smear, cervical cancer screening, skin skin contact, public health/prevention activities, genital hpv infection, role hpv testing,