Genital
Warts
Nancy Fehrmann
I
hope you've had a great summer enjoying your vacation, hanging out with
friends, seeing a few good movies and maybe even watching some TV reruns!
During those TV commercials, you may have noticed a new advertisement for
HPV—Human Papilloma Virus. Since my background is
in nursing, it caught my eye. There are many pretty young girls in this ad
saying they had never heard about HPV, they didn't know it could cause
cervical cancer. The ad ends with a plea saying, 'tell someone you love'
[about HPV].
I couldn't help but think, we [medical personnel] have known about this
virus for well over 15 years and the harm it can do... and only now the
medical community is getting the message on TV. So to make sure our F.I.T.
Girls are educated, I want to give you a little review. HPV is the most
common viral sexually transmitted disease. Remember,
there is no cure for a virus! It is estimated that 5 million new
infections are diagnosed every year in
The street name for this disease is Genital Warts. We now know there have
been over 100 strains of this virus identified and many of these strains are
invisible to the naked eye—meaning we don't know who has the virus until it
does its damage. 99% of cervical cancer is caused by HPV. More women die of
cervical cancer in our country every year (4000) than die of AIDS. HPV is
also linked to vulvar, vaginal, uterine and anal
cancers.
In closing, I'd like to add to that plea— 'tell someone you love to
practice purity... to wait until marriage to have sex... and that is
hopefully with a spouse who has also waited'. 'Tell someone you love that the
choices they make today affect the rest of their life... and because you love
them, you want them to have a long, fun-filled, healthy life.'