re: #519 reine.de.tout

Well, perhaps DT is trying to make an argument that there is a vaccine for this that people need to know about.

Ed - that’s absurd. Can’t we talk about how people are contracting rare diseases? Why wouldn’t that be a legitimate part of the story? You know, the “HOW” of the story. These STD are costing us Billions a year to treat. Why the fear? Lying about the original AIDS virus and refusing to treat it a a contagious disease created an epidemic. Now we are creating another one. The HPV virus also can cause infertility.

From the CDC:

Most people with HPV do not develop symptoms or health problems. But sometimes, certain types of HPV can cause genital warts in men and women. Other HPV types can cause cervical cancer and other less common cancers, such as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus, and penis. The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types that can cause cancer.

HPV types are often referred to as “low-risk” (wart-causing) or “high-risk” (cancer-causing), based on whether they put a person at risk for cancer. In 90% of cases, the body’s immune system clears the HPV infection naturally within two years. This is true of both high-risk and low-risk types.

Genital warts usually appear as small bumps or groups of bumps, usually in the genital area. They can be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large, and sometimes cauliflower shaped. They can appear on the vulva, in or around the vagina or anus, on the cervix, and on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. Warts may appear within weeks or months after sexual contact with an infected person. Or, they may not appear at all. If left untreated, genital warts may go away, remain unchanged, or increase in size or number. They will not turn into cancer.

Cervical cancer does not have symptoms until it is quite advanced. For this reason, it is important for women to get screened regularly for cervical cancer.

Other less common HPV-related cancers, such as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis, also may not have signs or symptoms until they are advanced.

Why not talk about a deadly virus when someone has died from a cancer that the virus can produce?