Let’s start this off with a question: What comes in many, but may not be associated with any signs or symptoms? If you guessed human papillomavirus, or HPV for short, then you are 100% correct. As discussed in class, there are many kinds of HPV. All of these viruses have some common characteristics. For example, they are doubled-stranded DNA viruses and do not have envelopes. In addition, they all fall into the Papillomaviridae family. The main differences between the different types are that some can cause diseases in certain species and some can cause diseases in certain tissues of the targeted organism. While some kinds of HPV infections are asymptomatic, some do indeed cause the infected individual to show some sort of signs and symptoms, mainly warts, especially in the genital areas. Quite a few of them lead to cancers concerning the cervix, throat and rectum. Sexual transmission is a common way to pass HPV from one individual to another, so watch out kids!
What’s the News, Doc?
According to an article from ScienceDaily, it has been discovered that individuals may not need to get as many HPV vaccines as they have been recommended to get. Researchers noted that the HPV vaccine is a vital source of protection against HPV infections, and as a result, cervical diseases that can arise from these infections. Moreover, one dose of this particular vaccine may just do the trick. Normally, two doses of the HPV vaccine are required for individuals who are less than 15 years of age. On the other hand, individuals 15 years old and up will need three doses of the HPV vaccine. Part of the study involved looking at the rate of protection between one dose, two doses, and three doses of HPV vaccine and found that individuals who were in the groups that had either one dose or three doses had about the same level of protection against what is referred to as “preinvasive” cervical diseases. While there is still much to discuss concerning this new finding, it is definitely a great start.
This discovery proves that when we think we know something, we do not actually know it. Believe it or not, there is still much we need to learn in the world. If this proves to be a solid finding, healthcare professionals may require individuals to only have to get one dose of the HPV vaccine. Think about it, this can save so much money, time, and resources. Either way, I believe that this experiment highlights the significance of receiving vaccinations. Moreover, when children are vaccinated as early as is deemed acceptable, this provides them with protection early on, which is a good thing if you ask me.
Everything Starts From Something
According to an article from HPV Vaccine, the earliest human clinical trials of the vaccine, Gardasil, was experimented on over 25,000 individuals. Moreover, about 4,000 of those individuals were men and over 20,000 of those individuals were women. Females and males as young as 9 years of age and as old as 45 years and 26 years, respectively, were involved. More females were included in the study because it is considered a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that appears quite frequently in the female population. The results of these trials were quite astonishing. In regards to protecting individuals from the unwanted effects on cervical cells that can result from HPV types 16 and 18, these trials gave an efficiency rate of nearly 100%. It was important for researchers to watch out for these abnormal characteristics because they are indications of cervical diseases. It was reported that Gardasil can also protect individuals from HPV types 6 and 11 as well. This showed the world that it was possible to protect humans, especially women, against strains of the human papillomavirus, as well as diseases, such as cervical cancer and anal cancer, that are caused by this virus.
This article has opened my eyes to the wonders of vaccines and the extent to which vaccines need to be tested in order to be used by the public. As a woman, knowing that this is a very common STI among many women is a scary notion for me to think about. I want to take advantage of the resources that are available to me in order to protect myself and protect others as well. I hope others will do the same. Think about it: There’s a good reason why so much time and money are put into the creation of a vaccine, right?
Melanie Nguyen's Microbiology Blog 