Download VBAC vs. repeat C

Human Papilloma Virus
Amy Baker
Disease Facts
• sexually transmitted disease affecting 80%
of Americans
• Often will show no symptoms
• The virus is responsible for cervical cancer
in women
• Cervical cancer is the third most common
cause of cancer overall and the leading
cause of cancer related deaths in women
How to detect HPV?
• A pap smear can be used as an effective
test for HPV in women
• virus typing is done when an abnormal
pap is detected to determine which of the
40 types of HPV is present
• HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-31, HPV-35, HPV39, HPV-45, HPV-51, HPV-52, and HPV58 are the “high risk” or precancerous
strains
The Vaccine
• and this vaccine protects
against 4 of the most
prevalent serotypes:
HPV 16 and 18,
and HPV 6 and 11
• two strains of HPV protected against are
implicated in over 70% of cervical cancers
The Vaccine
• second two types are implicated in 90% of
all genital warts
• vaccine is suggested for girls between the
ages of 9 and 26
• administered as 3 injections over 6 months
• most effective when given before a woman
becomes sexually active
• current price of the vaccine is $120 for
each injection
Requiring the Vaccine
• school aged children are required to obtain
numerous vaccines: Diptheria, Pertussis,
Influenza, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, and
Polio
• Gardasil, a 75% effective vaccine, when
administered to approximately 2 million
adolescent girls could prevent 224,000 HPV
infections
• Pockets of unvaccinated populations could
harbor the disease and prevent eradication
Opposition to Requiring the
Vaccine
• The main opposition to the vaccine was by
religious and conservative groups
• Some felt this gave young women “the
license to engage in premarital sex”National
Cervical Cancer Coalition
• Some “wished for fornicators to be
punished with STDs and even cancer”
New scientist
Conclusion
• Cervical cancer causes approximately one
percent of all cancer deaths in America
• Human papilloma virus is indicated in 70% of the
cervical cancers detected each year
• This vaccine could possibly eradicate a cancer
causing virus and diminish overall health care
cost
• Should ideology and a sense of personal virtue
stand in the way of protecting children from a
possible fatal disease later in life?