Diseases and vaccines

Human papillomavirus (HPV)

PATH is assisting developing countries in understanding the burden of cervical cancer and how best to prevent HPV-related disease. To learn more about PATH’s work in cervical cancer, please visit the PATH cervical cancer web page. For more information and additional resources on HPV and cervical cancer prevention, please visit PATH’s RHO Cervical Cancer website and Cervical Cancer library.

HPV disease

  • HPV is a common infection that most men and women acquire at some point in their lives. HPV causes cervical cancer and other health problems, leading to about 250,000 deaths each year, mostly in the developing world.
  • There are more than 100 types of HPV, most of which do not cause severe disease. Low-risk types of HPV can cause genital warts whereas high-risk types can lead to cancer of the cervix, vagina, anus, and penis. Cervical cancer is the most common by far.
  • Usually HPV infections resolve without causing health problems, but sometimes they persist. These are the cases that can progress, over many years, into advanced and life-threatening, cancer.
  • Treatment at the early stage is relatively simple, does not cause serious health problems to the patient, and has high rates of success. Treatment for the precursors of cervical cancer includes cryotherapy (freezing) and sometimes surgical removal of affected cells. Treatment is not recommended for HPV infection that does not produce symptoms.

HPV vaccines

  • New vaccines against the two HPV types that account for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide—types 16 and 18—have proven at least 95 percent effective in preventing persistent HPV infection and 100 percent effective in preventing vaccine type-specific cervical lesions in women aged 16 to 25.
  • Due to the sexual nature of transmission, vaccination is recommended for girls prior to the start of sexual activity, when there is a greater chance that they have not been exposed to the virus.
  • Two HPV vaccines currently are available but they are not yet being used in developing-world, public-sector programs. In part this is due to the current high price of the vaccine.

References