About 79 million Americans, mostly in
their late teens
and early twenties are infected with
the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
Each year about 14 million people
become newly infected.
The Good News:
The prevalence of the HPV infection in
adolescent girls in the United States has
declined by 56% among females
14 to 19 years old since 2006,
when the Gardasil vaccine was
introduced.
This decline is despite a relatively
low rate of vaccination: only 50% of adolescent girls have
received the vaccine.
The Bad News:
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 19,000 cancers,
mostly cervical, caused by the HPV Infection, occur each year in women.
About 8000 cancers caused by the HPV infection,mostly oropharyngeal,
occur yearly in infected men.
If the vaccination rate went up to 80%, about 50,000
cases of cervical cancer could be prevented
in the USA, according to the Centers for disease control.
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