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accessHealthNews.net
January 2024
Volume 10 | Issue No. 80
Nearly 13,000 women are diagnosed with
cervical cancer each year; approximately
4000 die. But did you know cervical
cancer is one of the few cancers that
is almost entirely preventable? Cervical
cancer begins with a common sexually
transmitted infection of the cervix called
human papillomavirus (HPV). Most
people who become infected with
HPV get it within two to three years of
their first sexual activity. A 2014 Sexually
Transmitted Diseases article, The Estimated
Lifetime Probability of Acquiring Human
Papillomavirus in the United States,
estimated the lifetime probability of adults
in the U.S. acquiring HPV by age 45 at 80%.
The majority of people who become
infected with HPV may never know it;
many won't have symptoms and will
get over the infection without problems,
although they can still pass the infection
on to others. In some people, however, the
HPV infection may be persistent, causing
precancerous changes in the cells of the
cervix. These changes may be very slow-
growing – from five to 20+ years – but
if not detected and treated, they can
eventually progress to cervical cancer.
If the precancerous cells are detected
early enough with a screening Pap smear,
surgical removal can prevent progression
to cervical cancer. And even if cancer has
developed, if caught before the cancer
has spread, the five-year survival rate is
over 90 percent.
Screenings for HPV infection and
precancerous changes are not the
only weapons available to fight the
development of cervical cancer, though.
There is also a vaccine available since
2006 to prevent HPV infection for both
males and females. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recommends HPV vaccine delivery at
ages 11–12 years to optimize protection
before a child ever has contact with the
virus.
However, teens and young adults through
age 26 who didn't start or finish the HPV
vaccine series can also be inoculated.
Knocking out cervical cancer begins with preventing
the infection that causes it.
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