Identifying Opportunities to Improve HPV Vaccination in an at-Risk Population

Abstract

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease (STD) worldwide, with 50-80% of sexually active individuals contracting an infection in their lifetime [1]. HPV was first recognized as the cause of the majority of cervical cancer cases in 1980. It is now also known to cause at least five other epithelial surface cancers, including anal, oropharyngeal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar cancers. Globally in 2012, about 580,000 cancer diagnoses in women and 60,000 cancer diagnoses in men were a result of an HPV infection.1 To help prevent this, the HPV vaccine was developed and first licensed in 2006 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a quadrivalent HPV (4vHPV) vaccine effective against HPV 6/11/16/18 strains Abstract