Essay
on Human Papilloma Virus
Every
year in the United States, the number of the people especially teenagers who
contract different kinds of sexually transmitted diseases is getting high.
Based on the American Social Health Association, the most prevalent STD in the
United States today is the group of viruses known as Human papillomavirus (HPV)
(Carter, 2001). It is an infection that is seen as a significant cause of
illness and death of the young population. It is also considered as the most
costly sexual transmitted disease in terms of direct medical expenses.
Human
papillomavirus is a member of the Papillomaviridae family. It is a
double-stranded DNA virus. HPV was discovered by Francis Rous during 1935 when
he found out in his experiment that it could cause skin cancer on the rabbits
that are infected by it. There are various papilloma viruses and almost all
birds and mammals can be affected by it. Today, there are more than 100 human
papillomaviruses that have been recognized (Dizon and Krychman, 2010). HPV is
defined as sexually transmitted virus that can be passed through genital
contact such as vaginal and anal sex and can also be passed by skin to skin
contact. Aside from affecting the skin, HPV can also affect other moist
membranes that line the bod, mouth, throat, feet, fingers, cervix and anus.
Most of the HPV types known cause no symptoms to humans. Most of the time, the
virus goes away before it cause any health risk and some people who actually
been infected with it are not even aware that they have it. There are also
those HPV types that can cause warts (genital wats) and those few that can
cause for the risk of developing cancer just like cervical and throat cancer.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (2010), any person who had genital contact with another person
can have the risk of acquiring HPV. Men and women can equally get it and pass
it on without knowing it. HPV is acquired through direct contact and
because of this; most people are infected at young ages. Chances of getting HPV
become higher when a person had sex at an early age, if he or she has many
sexual partners and if his or her partner has had many sexual partners before.
There might not be any signs for HPV sometimes and a person can have HPV even
if it was years ago since he or she had sex.
Human papillomavirus is most commonly passed on through
genital contact and most often through vaginal and anal sex. It can also be
passed on through oral sex. Further, sexual intercourse is not required for the
infection to be passed on from one person to another. HPV can also be passed
through skin to skin contact. HPV can be passed on between straight and
same-sex partners equally. In very rare conditions, a pregnant woman that is
affected by genital HPV can also pass the infection on to her baby during the
birth delivery.
Most of HPV
types cause poses no health problems to people that have them. Most of these
infections usually go away by themselves in a span of 2 years. Still, there are
those types that can persist and cause varieties of serious health problems to
people who have them. Some of the potential health problems that can be caused
by human papilloma virus include genital warts, cervical cancer, recurrent
respiratory papillomatosis (warts in throat), and genital cancers (penis,
vagina, vulva and anus cancer)
There is no
known cure for the human papilloma virus itself but there are available
treatments for the health problems that it causes such as treatments for
genital warts, cervical cancer and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.
Instead of suffering the consequences of HPV infection, it is always better to
prevent it. There are some ways which you can do in order to prevent being
infected from HPV. There are the two vaccines that are against some types of
HPV and you can avail it from medical clinics. Also it is advisable to limit the
number of sexual partners and to use condoms to reduce the risk of infection
whenever you will have vaginal, anal or oral sex.
Works
Cited
Carter, E. (2001). Everything
You Need to Know About Human Papillomavirus. New York: The Rosen Publishing
Group Inc.
Dizon, D.S. & Krychman (2011). Questions and Answers About Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Ontario:
Jones and Barlett Publishers Canada.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2010). HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). Retrieved
February 25, 2013 from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=2Py_BLXupVAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=what+is+human+papillomavirus&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2gErUd6eFKWImQWo1oDgCA&redir_esc=y
