it was only until a few months ago that i took into consideration the fact i might have genital warts. i have never had sex before, and these bumps h

Check out the About.com's new Cervical Cancer site!In 2007, over eleven thousand women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer. Although cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer, over three thousand women will die of this disease this year. All women should become aware of cervical cancer!

England Journal of Medicine, March 21, 2006.7Villa, L.L., Costa, R.L., Petta, C.A.,et al. (2005) Prophylactic quadrivalent human papillomavirus (types 6, 11, 16, and 18) L1 virus-like particle vaccine in young women: a randomised double-blind placebo- controlled multicentre phase II efficacy trial. Lancet Oncology 6: 271-278. Villa, L.L., Costa, R.L., Petta, C.A., et al.

Women who had genital warts in the past, but no longer have them, will most likely not have any problems during pregnancy or birth. However, for women who have genital warts during pregnancy, the warts may grow, or may become larger and bleed. In rare cases, a pregnant woman can pass HPV to her baby during vaginal delivery. A baby that is exposed to HPV very rarely develops warts in the throat or voice box.

How long a new vaccine protects people is never known when the vaccine is first introduced. Research is being done to find out how long protection against HPV will last, and if a booster vaccine will be needed.

The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, is a series of three injections to vaccinate against 4 strains of the Human Papilloma Virus most responsible for cervical cancers. At this time, the vaccine is only available for women ages 9-26 but studies and supplies are underway to make this more widely available.

Most people (up to 90%) who test positive for HPV with very sensitive tests for HPV (polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and Hybrid Capture® II) will become HPV negative on the same tests within 6-24 months from first testing positive. This is due to an effective immune response to HPV. What is not known is whether this means that the virus is actually eliminated from the body or just suppressed to such a low number of HPVs (as in latency) that even these sensitive tests cannot detect it.

The vaccine is composed of recombinant HPV virus-like particles identical to the structure of natural HPV viruses. The vaccine is not 'live," and contains no viral DNA. Thus, one cannot become infected with HPV from the vaccine.

No. The quadrivalent HPV vaccine is purely prophylactic and does not alter the natural history of an ongoing HPV infection. To ensure maximal benefit of HPV immunization, females must be immunized prior to acquisition of any HPV infection, ideally prior to sexual debut.

HPV is now recognized as the major cause of cervical cancer. Low-risk HPV types rarely develop into cancer. These include HPV-6 and HPV-11, the main types found in genital warts. HPV viruses that can lead to the development of cancer are referred to as high-risk, and include HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, and 69. Most HPV infections, including infection with high-risk types, go away on their own and do not cause abnormal growths.

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Gyn specimens collected in PreservCyt may be held for up to three weeks at temperatures between 4-37° C following collection and prior to processing for the HPV DNA Assay. (For more info: Call Digene Technical Support at 1-800-344-3631).