Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted disease in the US. Some HPV strains are known to cause cervical and other genital cancers. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. Gardasil, an HPV vaccine, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, Gardasil only protects against four HPV strains (there are over 100 known HPV strains). Now a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that HPV infection among young women was greater than previously estimated. The study found that nearly 7.5 million young women in the U.S. have HPV infection.
The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, investigated the prevalence of HPV among women in the U.S. Researchers at the CDC analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), including women aged 14 to 59, between 2003 and 2004. Vaginal swabs were collected from the participants and analyzed for HPV DNA.
The researchers found that nearly 27 percent of women (about 25 million women) had HPV infection. HPV infection increased in prevalence each year among women aged 14 to 24 years. About 25 percent of women aged 14 to 19 years had HPV, increasing to 45 percent of women aged 20 to 24. HPV infection then declined in prevalence with increasing age, with 20 percent of women aged 50 to 59 years infected. Findings also revealed that less than 3 million women had any of the four HPV vaccine strains.
"HPV is common among females in the United States," the study authors write. "Our data indicate that the burden of prevalent HPV infection among females was greater than previous estimates and was highest among those aged 20 to 24 years. However, the prevalence of HPV vaccine types was relatively low."
REFERENCES:
1. Dunne EF et al. Prevalence of HPV infection among females in the United States. JAMA 2007 Feb 28;297(8):813-9.
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on March 10, 2007 03:42 PM
