HPV BY THE NUMBERS

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is extremely common— around 80 million people (or one in four) are currently infected, and nearly 14 million more become infected each year. There is no treatment for HPV infections, but it’s important for parents to consider vaccinating their children—both boys and girls—to prevent precancerous changes and cancer in their futures and their partner’s.

Data from 2015 shows 49.10 percent of male and female 12 year olds in Florida have received the HPV vaccine. In

Citrus County, that number is only 18 percent. Carlisle says the STD label placed on HPV may be the problem.

“I highly recommend the vaccine to my patients, but there was a time when mothers didn’t want to give the vaccine to their daughters, maybe thinking they were condoning sexual activity, or they weren’t sure it was safe. But we have so much literature saying that if they’re vaccinated prior to the first episode of sexual activity, we can decrease the instances of cervical cancer,” she says.

HPV IS RESPONSIBLE FOR:

HPV is believed to be responsible for 90 percent of cervical and anal cancers, 70 percent of vaginal and vulvar cancers and 60 percent of penile cancers. Approximately 23,000 women and 15,793 men are a ected each year by cancers caused by HPV. Vaccination could prevent the majority, around 28,000, from occurring.

Nationwide, four out of 10 girls are unvaccinated and six out of 10 boys are unvaccinated.

The three types of HPV vaccine, Gardasil, Gardasil 9 and Cervarix, all protect against HPV types 16 and 18. These two strains cause seven out of 10 cases of cervical cancer. Gardasil and Gardasil 9 also protect against types 6 and 11, which cause nine out of 10 cases of genital warts.

A study published in the journal JAMA Oncology in January found that among a group of 1,868 men in the United States, 45 percent had genital HPV infections. Only about 10 percent had been vaccinated for HPV.

The HPV vaccine is recommended for young women through age 26, and young men through age 21. The best time to vaccinate is at ages 11 or 12. All children who are 11 or 12 should have two shots of HPV vaccine six to 12 months apart. Teens 13 and older will require three vaccinations over a sixmonth period.

Unfortunate Findings

A study published in January 2016 in the journal Cancer revealed that more women are diagnosed with cervical cancer than previously thought. Prior data stated cervical cancer killed about 5.7 out of 100,000 black women and 3.2 out of 100,000 white women annually in the United States. Unfortunately, that data didn’t account for women who had undergone hysterectomies, which remove the cervix (and therefore the risk for cervical cancer).

The new study subtracted these women from the data and discovered the death rate is actually 10.1 per 100,000 black women and 4.7 per 100,000 white women. Those rates are 77 percent higher and 47 percent higher respectively.

The American Cancer Society recommends that women begin cervical cancer screenings at age 21 with a Pap test every three years. At 30, women should have a Pap test and HPV test every five years.

Source: cnn.com

Pap smear every three years. If you come in for regular exams, you’ll never have cervical cancer. We will catch it before it’s cancerous. If you never come in until something’s wrong, who knows what I’ll find?”

If cost is what’s standing between you and your annual exam, check out the Florida Breast and Cervical Cancer Early

Citrus County Health Department

120 Montgomery Ave., Inverness, FL 34450 (352) 527-0068

Marion County Health Department

1801 SE 32nd Ave., Ocala, FL 34471 (352) 629-0137

Visit floridahealth.gov for more information.

We Are The Champions

Ladies, while you may not appreciate your monthly menstruation or the sole responsibility of bearing children, it’s important to remember what makes your vagina kind of cool. So, how are vaginas bad***? Let

It’s got twice the sensory power of a penis. The clitoris has 8,000 nerve endings to the penis’ 4,000, which is what makes the female orgasm more intense than males’. Sorry, not sorry.

It’s classy. Did you know your vagina has the same pH level as a glass of wine? The normal pH for vaginas ranges from 3.8 to 4.5. Most wines’ pH levels fall between 3.0 and 4.0.

It’s basically an apex predator. Ever heard of squalene? In the vagina, this substance serves as a natural lubricant. It can also