Hpv Vaccine Essay

2836 Words12 Pages
Human Papillomavirus also known as HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. It is estimated that seventy- five percent to eighty percent of both male and female will be infected with the virus within their lifetime. Twenty million Americans carry the virus, while there are 6.2 million new cases per year. HPV infects both sexually active individuals as well as people that are abstinence. The virus can be found on the surface of the skin, cervix, vagina, anus, vulva, head of penis, mouth and throat. Since it is found in so many places it can easily be spread. HPV is not curable but is preventable. With people knowing this why is the vaccine intake rate so low? Is it because we don’t even know what HPV is or maybe it’s because we are not informed about the vaccine, or could it be we know about the vaccine but it’s too expensive for the average person? Before staring my research on this paper I myself didn’t really know much about HPV. I don’t know if it’s because the spot light isn’t really on HPV but is on things such as HIV AIDS and other STD’s or is it because it’s not really talked about. All I knew was when I go to the doctor’s office to get my yearly pap smear my doctor asks me if I want the vaccine. My response has always been no. I responded no simply because I didn’t know what HPV was, so why get a vaccine for something that I didn’t know what I was trying to prevent. What I didn’t know was that when I receive my pap they check to make sure nothing is wrong with my cervix which is what HPV attacks. HPVSafety.com stated “High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) can be detected through a simple test and among women, who stand a higher risk of cervical cancer; this can be done along with the Pap smear test. On the other hand, there is as of now no FDA-approved test to detect HPV in men. The reason for this is that there has yet to

More about Hpv Vaccine Essay

Open Document