> More
than 6 million people a year become infected
with HPV in the United States. The CDC estimates
that there are currently 20 million
Americans who are infected with HPV.
> In
2006, an HPV
vaccine was approved by the FDA
that keeps women who have never had HPV from
getting four types of HPV. More vaccines are
being researched to eliminate more types.
> HPV stands for Human papillomavirus
and is known as a group of viruses that includes
more than 100 different strains or types. More than
30 of these viruses are sexually transmitted, and
they can infect the genital area of men and women
including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside
the vagina), or anus, and the linings of the vagina,
cervix, or rectum. Most people who become infected
with HPV will not have any symptoms and will clear
the infection on their own.
> An estimated 15 percent of
Americans ages 15 to 49 are currently infected with
HPV.
> Studies repeatedly show high levels of HPV infection
in women, with the highest levels among young women.
> A U.S. study among female
college students found that an average of 14 percent
became infected with genital HPV each year. About
43 percent of the women in the study were infected
with HPV during the three-year study period.
> There are about 40 types of
genital HPV. In most cases, HPV goes away on its
own, without causing any health problems. It is thought
that the immune system fights off HPV infection naturally.
> Having HPV is not the same
thing as having HIV or herpes.
> HPV may be an even greater problem for HIV-positive
men and women. HIV-positive individuals have a higher
prevalence of HPV infection and precancerous lesions
on the cervix and anus than HIV-negative individuals.
Co-infection with HIV and HPV is most likely due
to shared risk behaviors for both diseases, as well
as an increased susceptibility to HPV because of
a compromised immune system.
> A San Francisco study of gay
and bisexual men found that 60 percent of HIV-negative
men had HPV, with almost universal HPV infection
among HIV-positive individuals with severely compromised
immune systems.
> Similarly, a six-city study among high risk and HIV-infected
women found that 26 per-cent of HIV-negative women
were infected with HPV, but 70 percent of HIV-positive
women with severely comprised immune systems were
infected with HPV (Palefsky, 1998).
