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Human papilloma virus (HPV)
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
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Papillomaviruses
Papillomaviruses are nonenveloped DNA viruses. These viruses are diverse, but all can infect the skin and mucosal tissues of a many vertebrate species, including humans.[1] A group of genital mucosotropic human papilloma virus (HPV) types are etiologic agents responsible for virtually all cases of cervical cancer, as well as a substantial fraction of other ano-genital and head-and-neck cancers (reviewed in [1]). Cancer-associated genital HPV types, as well as another subset of HPV types associated with the development of benign genital warts (condyloma accuminata), are generally transmitted through sexual contact. Infection with genital HPV types is very common, with an estimated lifetime risk of infection of about 75% [2]. Although most genital HPV infections are subclinical and self-limiting, a subset of persistently infected individuals have lesions that progress to premalignancy or cancer.
Epidemiology
23% of women attending sexually transmitted disease, family planning, and primary care outpatient clinics in the United States may be positive for high-risk HPV.[2]
Prevention
I vitro studies show that carrageenan, extracted from red algae and commercially used to thicken products including sexual lubricants and infant formulas, is a potent inhibitor of HPV infection.[3]
References
- ↑ Index of Viruses - Papillomaviruses (2006). In: ICTVdB - The Universal Virus Database, version 4. Büchen-Osmond, C (Ed), Columbia University, New York, USA. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/Ictv/fs_index.htm
- ↑ Datta, S. D., Koutsky, L. A., Ratelle, S., Unger, E. R., Shlay, J., McClain, T., et al. (2008). Human Papillomavirus Infection and Cervical Cytology in Women Screened for Cervical Cancer in the United States, 2003-2005. Ann Intern Med, 148(7), 493-500.
- ↑ Buck CB, Thompson CD, Roberts JN, Müller M, Lowy DR, Schiller JT (2006). "Carrageenan is a potent inhibitor of papillomavirus infection". PLoS Pathog. 2 (7): e69. DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.0020069. PMID 16839203.
