“As a healthcare professional, a colleague asks your opinion as to which HPV strains should be covered in a new treatment. Based on your reading from the Sarid and Gao 2011 article.” When thinking about how to prioritize which HPV strain should be covered in a new treatment, my first thought was the severity of the strain and how high risk it is. HPV strain 16,18,31 and 45 where the most high-risk and important strains I thought should be covered in a new treatment. These four strains account for ~80% of cervical cancer, while the other ~20% of HPV strains like 39, 51, 52, 56, 58, and 59 have been classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” or “possibly carcinogenic.” To narrow down from the top four HPV strains, when it comes to cost, HPV 16 and 18 are the top two because there is already a vaccine for them, but to increase the percentage from 80% to 100% the vaccine should be covered for a new treatment to improve it. HPV vaccines should be give in two dose, the first is given before a woman’s 15th birthday, the second dose is given 6 to 12 months after first dose.
When I first started reading the article, I didnt realize how many high risk strains there could be for HPV, and going further into knowing more about HPV, I didnt know how many woman die from cancer each year, let alone cervical cancer. Knowing that there is a vaccine and have gotten the vaccine, it helps to know there is lower risk of getting cancer, at least cervical cancer.