HPV at LSC

TITLE

3/20/08

By Amanda Wozniak
Critic Staff

Six LSC women tested positive for HPV (Human Papillomavirus) last year of the 48 women that had a Pap test conducted at the LSC Health Services Department.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s research shows that by the age of 50, at least 80% of women will have acquired at least one type of HPV. None of which are curable.

“Our numbers are not huge but my suspicion is there are people that are not being tested because they feel safe that they are using birth control,” Sue Duckett a R.N. at the Brown House said. Since the number of students who had a Pap test in the past year is so small Duckett does not feel that the 12.5% of women that tested positive is an accurate sample of the college as a whole. She added that many students use other facilities such as Planned Parenthood.

HPV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that is passed through skin-to-skin contact with a person who has the virus on their skin. According to the Planned Parenthood website there are 40 types of HPV that are STIs. There are two types of HPV within the 40 types, Low-risk and high-risk. According to

Low-risk HPV may cause genital warts. High-risk HPV can cause cell changes that may lead to cervical cancer. There are also many types of HPV that have no harmful affect at all. It’s a common virus infecting about 20 million people in the U.S. Between 50% and 75% of these cases are high-risk.

For the past seven years the nurses at the Brown House have conducted a Colposcopy on any patient with HPV as a routine follow-up. A Colposcopy is a closer examination of the Cervix to evaluate potentially cancerous cells. If potentially cancerous cells are present a biopsy of the cells is performed for verification.

Recently Health Services received a new guideline from Fletcher Allen Health Care stating that if a Pap test detects abnormal cells in females under the age of 21 they should follow-up with another Pap test in 12 months instead of a Colposcopy. This is the average time a woman would wait if the Pap test showed that no abnormal cells were present.

The FDA recently approved Gardasil, an HPV vaccine for girls and women ages 9-26. According to the Gardasil website it protects against 4 types. Types 6 and 11 are reported to have caused 90% of genital warts cases. Types 16 and 18 account for 70% of cervical cancer cases. There are approximately 15 high-risk types.

Women that get this vaccine “should still use barriers like condoms” because it does not eliminate the chance of infection entirely, Duckett said. The school’s insurance will cover the cost of this vaccine for students under the age of 19. Gardasil is a series of three shots.

HPV is not the only STI that affects LSC students. From Fall 2007 to the present 8 people tested positive for Chlamydia. “In this day and age it does not make sense not to use condoms,” Duckett said. The Brown House also tests less than 10 students a year for HIV none of which have been positive.