An Awkward Conversation About HPV That Can Save You From Cancer

HPV? No, I don't know... I mean, I have heard of it, but I'm sort of, you know, I don't have any STD. Lucas breaks a short silence with a dry chuckle, and quickly turns his eyes to his friend.

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Is it awkward enough by just imagine it? Talking about STD with others seems to be almost always makes us uncomfortable. But it's human papillomavirus (HPV) that we are discussing here-not one of, but the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and it can be fatal.

What can make people's lives miserable at some point in life? It is the answer that we all know - illness. Good health should be a valued condition in the lives of all people regardless o-f their background.

Cancer is one of the major diseases that are currently attacking us as beings until that point when we develop our knowledge to an advanced stage. As far as this disease is concerned, women are the ones who have got higher chances of being attacked by cancer (In Acton, 2012).

Among different types of cancers, cervical cancer has been a rising issue that has led to a lot of concern regarding to women's health among medical practitioners and the society. So here goes another sad news: Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by human papillomavirus, and can affect people regardless of their gender, age, culture or background.

This young men, Wenko, who is sitting uncomfortably in front of me with his leg crossed, is among the many people in the United States who had been infected by the HPV virus. He comes to his school's health center to get a routine check just to make sure the virus doesn't hit back on him.

Comparing to those big multicore healthcare centers in the city, Wenko seems to feel more comfortable to get examined here in the student health center located in a small town.

For Wenko, he believes that receiving the vaccination ahead of the time was significant as it could further protect him from contracting or transmitting it to his partner through sexual intercourse. "It was hard... I knew I had to tell her, but it just didn't feel right."

Indeed, the vaccine is vital and essential especially amongst the youths and the young adults who demonstrate a high tendency of sexual involvement with more than one partners; sometimes unprotected.

According to Dr. Smith, who is Wenko's family doctor currently, genital HPV is a common virus that is transmitted from one individual to another through the skin to skin contact during the sexual activity. This means that majority of the sexually active people will get HPV at some point in their livers without knowing. It is prevalent in an individual in their 20s.

More than 40 types of HPV virus can infect both the men and women. Most types of HPV virus show no symptoms and proceed on their own. Notably, some types cause cancer of the cervix in women and some other cancers which are less frequent which could include cancer of the penis, vagina, cancer of the anus and even cancer of the vulva and oropharynx. Different HPV types also cause warts in the genitals areas of women and men.

"I don't even know if its HPV related", Lucas stated, "but one of my friends did said she had some unexpected bumps grew in her mouth several weeks after she had oral sex with a guy." They just disappeared on their own after a period of time, he adds.

These are referred to as genital warts, and they are never life-threatening. The significant side effect of genital warts is the fact that they can ably cause emotional stress in people who are affected hence their treatment can be quite uncomfortable. Nearly 1200 women are diagnosed with cancer of the cervix and 4000 women pass away from this disease in the U.S every year. Almost 1 percent of adults who are active sexually in the U.S have visible genital warts at any point in time. It is also worth noting that the vaccine has tremendously improved some people's sense of safety in the U.S.

"But I think it's important for one to visit any hospital near him or her in any case they suspect or notice any abnormal symptoms in their genitals". Lucas stated.

"It's really good to prevent re-infection as well as infecting our loved ones with the HPV virus, yet the HPV vaccine tremendously works well." He adds

HPV vaccines are one of the safest and effective vaccines that are currently on the verge of protecting women, children and even men from various HPV related diseases that are likely to attack them (Cornwall, 2013). One of the major recommendations associated with it is for the teenage girls to be able to receive it by the age of 11 years or 12 years. This guarantees their protection against HPV before they are exposed to the virus. Fortunately, one can even get the vaccine even up to the age of twenty-six years. These vaccine was first developed by the University of Queensland in Australia. However, the final form was later developed by scientists at the various university including University of Queensland, Georgetown University Medical Centre, and the researchers from Georgetown University. Both Ian Frazer and Jian Zhou have been given the patent rights by guided by the U.S laws of inventions. The first vaccine was however administered in 2006 and about 71 nations across the world have been reported to include regular vaccinations as of 2017.

"I am not just sure why other people, you know, have varied opinions about the HPV vaccines". Lucas said while facing his friend directly to his face "Why do you say that?" Asked the friend.

"It nearly took me one week to convince my younger brother for having him vaccinated". He had previously protested that such vaccines were nothing sensible, other than the current method the government is trying to use to proven men from siring children. Lucas added

"But there are so many benefits associated with these vaccines".......

One of the major pros associated with it is that the HPV vaccine can offer protection against different HPV types specifically where both act as the major contributors of specific types of cancers. Additionally, most of the vaccines can also help in the protection of against strains which is commonly known as genital warts (Manning, 2009). The United States Food and Drug Administration could come up with three different types of vaccines that were geared towards offering protection against HPV. They mainly constituted of Gardasil 9, Gardasil and the Cervarix. Each of the vaccines involves a series of three different injections that is injected right into the muscles over a period of six months. Most people can receive the vaccine without encountering any side serious side effects, some of the moderate side effects that are likely to be experienced right after the vaccination include; swelling at the shot side, fatigue, muscle pain and at some point, a slight fever. One of the major hallmarks related to the vaccine that can confer a long-term kind of immune protection is the appropriate development of the entire immune memory (Nack, 2009).

"I think what happened to my brother is just an example of many factors that prevent young Americans from receiving the vaccines". Lucas reiterated. I also know some of my friends out there who keep on hiding trying to say that the vaccination is harmful to human health"

Fundamentally, barriers are some of the major parameters that are likely to lead to the emergence of serious issues within the current society one of the major existing barriers for most women to have appropriate access to this shot in the United States is lack of appropriate awareness across various regions. This makes most people not to have any idea regarding cervical cancer and some of the common causes that might lead to its existence. Due to this situation involving lack of awareness, many have become victims where some of them have even ended up dying, a condition which they could somehow try to prevent if there was appropriate knowledge concerning this disease among themselves.

What can people do to this kind of problem? I think most medical practitioners and medical doctors need to be aware of the deteriorating health conditions and the need to come up with advanced technological measures that are likely to hinder this kind of problem from the society and eradicate it as much as possible (Shaw, 2015). The world health organization provides us with some essential information regarding the low levels of awareness that most women are currently experiencing. Another thing these professionals could do is to prepare reasonable awareness programs to talk about the problem with different individuals irrespective of their age, gender or even background.

Conclusion

Cervical cancer can be a nightmare at some point but there are several measures we can implement to do away with its occurrence. Hopefully, one day all women will be able to walk freely in the streets without fear of getting appropriate treatment of cancer disease.