Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine

Almost half of the male population in the United States is currently living with genital human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, says JAMA Oncology. Human Papilloma virus is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection and is believed to affect a significant percentage of sexually active people at least once in their life. According to latest CDC estimates, there are 79 million active cases of active HPV in the United States.

Based on the risk and complications associated with poorly managing HPV Infection, healthcare professionals divide Human papilloma viruses into high risk and low risk categories. The high-risk human papilloma virus may cause different types of cancers including cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, and anus. It may also lead to head and neck tumors. While on the other hand, low risk HPV is associated with genital warts and other types of local infections. It is noteworthy that there are more than 100 clinical varieties of HPV.

Classic sign and symptoms of HPV Infection are:

• Growth on skin or mucous membrane
• These growths (also known as warts) may appear on genital skin or on other areas of the body such as palms, soles etc.

What Should You Know About HPV Vaccines?

Currently there are vaccines that can provide protection against all types of human papilloma virus but there is no such vaccine that can cure it! But it is imperative to mention that some vaccines are under critical scrutiny and researchers claim that these vaccines can cure HPV induced cancerous and precancerous lesions.

Like genital warts, there are some proposed treatments that may address the symptoms of cervical cancer but, these treatments are not approved in the US as yet. However, it is noteworthy that these vaccines and treatments are currently being administered and tested administered to patients in Mexico. HPV curable vaccines are still under experimental phase and some experts believe that the evaluations made are not enough to back up the claims that these vaccines will treat HPV or prevent the high-risk outcomes.

To get approval in US, this claimed vaccine must undergo various stages of clinical trials at a reliable research center under the supervision of government so that the efficacy and safety can be ascertained via FDA testing.

Cure HPV Naturally!

It might be surprising to know but, most of the HPV infections are harm-free and flush out of the body within a short period of time, without any treatment. The average life of new cervical HPV infections is up to 8 months. Usually most of the new infections clear within 1-2 years. Even the persistent or repetitive infections are cleared eventually without any therapy; however, the viral DNA may remain in the body which means a person can be asymptomatic but the virus is still active in the body and therefore, it is said to be an incurable infection.

There are numerous herbal and nutritional supplements in market that claims to cure the infection but the reality is opposite. No vitamin, no herb or mineral has proven to be an effective cure for human papilloma virus. Therefore, one should not fall for such so called “magical products” and it’s better to consult doctor or pharmacist before using them. A person can prevent HPV through legally approved preventive vaccines but there are no FDA-Cleared “curable vaccines” for HPV as yet. Therefore it is highly recommended to maintain adequate caution in maintaining sexual encounters with strangers.

References

• Joura, E. A., Giuliano, A. R., Iversen, O. E., Bouchard, C., Mao, C., Mehlsen, J., ... & Pitisuttithum, P. (2015). A 9-valent HPV vaccine against infection and intraepithelial neoplasia in women. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(8), 711-723.
• Stokley, S., Jeyarajah, J., Yankey, D., Cano, M., Gee, J., Roark, J., ... & Markowitz, L. (2014). Human papillomavirus vaccination coverage among adolescents, 2007-2013, and postlicensure vaccine safety monitoring, 2006-2014--United States. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 63(29), 620-624.