After reading the article from last week, I think based off of what we know I’d probably choose to create a vaccine that covers HPV 31 or 45 or if it’s possible that these are closely related by DNA (I’m not exactly sure how this all works, BUT in an ideal work if they were related close enough then one vaccine might be able to protect against the both of them). The article states that there are already vaccines that can protect against HPV 16 and 18 which help limit the spread. I chose 31 or 45 and not the others because these in addition to HPV 16 and 18 account for 80% of cervical cancer. Just like how HPV 16 and 18 are given to woman within a certain time period whether they are sexually active or not, creating a vaccine for either of those should follow the same guidelines. I think depending on how the vaccine is made, that would determine the period in which it should be administered. Ideally I would say that people should get vaccinated as soon as possible, especially in this case before they become sexually active since HPV is passed through sexual contact (whether that be intercourse or orally). Cervical cancer usually occurs in middle aged women, however it is totally possible for women who are younger to get it. This vaccine could allow someone to have a healthy pregnancy because they were protected from HPV when they were younger. Also, in the article, the other HPV forms (not to say that they aren’t important), but they are considered to be “possibly carcinogenic and “probably carcinogenic to humans” according to the article. Also by doing proper math, the other types would account for 20% of potentially causes of cervical cancer in comparison to HPV 16 ,18, 31 and 45 which make up about 80%, as stated before.
