Thread: HPV

HPV. How come there are no vaccins yet on HPV?

I checked out facts of affected people, specially the buccal one. It's huge amount of people. Some says, we have that because of Indians? Any clue. Just currious!

By HPV do you mean human papillomavirus? There's at least two vaccines for that.

Honnestly Biologista I wish you would clear me up on those.

is Herpes HPV?
And vaccins, if they are, what do they cure or prevent?

Originally Posted by timel

Honnestly Biologista I wish you would clear me up on those.

is Herpes HPV?
And vaccins, if they are, what do they cure or prevent?

Ah, no; Herpes is HSV-1 or HSV-2. There's no vaccine for either, though I'd imagine there's plenty of research ongoing in that regard.

The thing is, it's a fairly easy virus to control without vaccination, at least compared to many of the viruses for which we vaccinate. It manifests fairly obviously when it is actually contagious (lesions such as coldsores). During a flare up in a latent infected person (which generally will occur during times of immune system supression or stress) the appropriate response is to prevent any contact between the lesions and anyone else. In the case of genital herpes, that means barrier contraception. In the case of orofacial lesions, no kissing people!

That generally helps prevent new primary infections. For those who have a latent infection, there is some risk of complications like encephalitis, but these are rare cases I think.

Note: There are no cures for HPV but there are vaccines.

Also to note: Viruses as of yet arn't capable of being cured.

Originally Posted by verzen

Note: There are no cures for HPV but there are vaccines.

Also to note: Viruses as of yet arn't capable of being cured.

Well the OP actually meant HSV, not HPV.

As for cures for viruses, we certainly don't have the sort of "magic bullet" that we have for bacterial infection (ie antibiotics). But viruses and bacteria are not really comparable infectious agents. What we do have are a variety of antiviral agents that can limit the spread of an infection and shorten it. Ultimately this is all that antibiotics will do in the case of most bacterial infections. The resolution of the infection still demand that the immune system do it's job. Of course, for some viral and bacterial infections, this is not enough. And the situation is further complicated by the fact that many viruses can set up latent infections.

Hold on. So what's the difference between HPV and Herpes. More symptoms wise?
There are some numbers, like Bucal Herpes is 50-80% of Americains and many don't know they have it.

HPV is more dangerous, but is often more treatable than herpes is. Herpes is less dangerous, but less treatable.
HPV is only dangerous to females and the only kind that is dangerous to females are the ones that do not form into warts.

It's actually dangerous to both, there have been dysplastic changes in men by genital HPV... should find a reference but it is of concern to doctors these days.

Originally Posted by timel

Hold on. So what's the difference between HPV and Herpes. More symptoms wise?

The viruses are not directly related. HPV causes warts which are quite distinct from herpes lesions. The two viruses generate their respective growths by different means. The means that HPV uses is what increases the risk of cancer. It essentially induces tumor-like growth in infected cells in order to reproduce more rapidly. HPV does this by disabling a couple of tumor suppressor genes. As far as I am aware there is no cancer risk from herpes.

Originally Posted by timel

There are some numbers, like Bucal Herpes is 50-80% of Americains and many don't know they have it.

Latent herpes infections in general are very common. When infectious they tend to be fairly obvious to the patient though.