HPV affect on women - Essay Example

Social consequences include a feeling of shame in women with the infection, by which these women feel that their bodies are now deficient. Psychological consequences include depression, anguish, anger, lowering of self-esteem, and hostility towards the individual considered responsible for transmitting the infection. The infection can be prevented by vaccination that has been developed, by which the many lives lost each year from the consequences of the infection can be saved. Yet, the vaccination is not promoted with enough enthusiasm to bring about this effect.

Human papillomavirus also known as HPV is a virus that can cause infection at the skin, or at the genital area of both males and females. In excess of 130 types of HPV have been found till date. Infection on the skin results in warts, while infection in the genital area may lead to genital warts. Infection of the genital area can also cause cancer of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus, mouth and throat (McGill Medicine, 2010). Genital herpes viral infection is the possible outcome of sexual intercourse with an individual already infected, while recurrence of the infection occurs when a person is under physical or psychological stress (International Herpes Management Forum (IHMF), 2003).

The problem in HPV infections for women is that they unfairly bear the burden of the major proportion of the actual disease that can result from the infection (Henderson, Yasgur & Warshowsky, 2002). Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) published in the February 28, 2007, shows that 26.8% of women in the U.S. have one or more strains of HPV, and that the prevalence of HPV is highest in the age group of 20-24. Furthermore, the prevalence in women in the U.S. of the high risk types of HPV is a little over 15% (National Cancer Institute, 2007).

Two peaks have been observed in the prevalence of HPV in