Growing up, the yearly doctor’s visit was dreaded by many because of the knowledge that they might have to get a shot that day. However, these shots are extremely important to get because they prevent acquiring diseases that can be extremely dangerous or affect patients throughout their life. One example of such vaccine is for human papillomavirus (HPV), which cannot be cured.
Based on the 2011 article written by Sarid and Gao, there are several strains of HPV which can be dangerous. While HPV is known as a sexually transmitted infection (STI), it can also lead to cancers in both men and women, making it even more important to protect against. Although there are several different strains of HPV, HPVs 16, 18, 31, and 45 should be prioritized to be covered in a new treatment. It can become expensive to develop vaccinations for each strain, and thus while it would be ideal to cover all strains, it would be more cost effective and quicker to finish developing and offer to patients to only cover the high risk strains. The aforementioned strains (16, 18, 31, 45) are the highest risk, causing about 80% of cervical cancer.
Because HPV is sexually transmitted, it is important to administer the vaccination before patients become sexually active. It is commonly recommended to be administered at age 11 or 12 and because it cannot be cured, only treated, it is best to vaccinate young adults earlier to make sure all patients are protected.
