Originally posted by CeltAngel
Unfortunately, advertising makes it seem like HPV is the only cause of cervical cancer. Statistically, at least as of 2007, we can prove this wrong.
It is currently estimated that there are 20 million people in the US alone that have HPV with 5.5 million more to be infected every year.
In 2007, there were roughly 500,000 reported cases of cervical cancer worldwide. Of those, 11,000 were caused by HPV. 11,000/500,000=.022 - that's 2%
of cervical cancer that was caused by HPV.
Could you provide a source for this? Because everything that I've seen says that all cervical cancer (except one rare kind caused by your mother
having taken a certain medication while pregnant) involve HPV.
They may also involve other risk factors, such as smoking, poor nutrition, etcetera, but the virus is always present at the site where the cancer
begins.
It is true that most HPV infections, even of the strains of HPV that can cause cancer, do not result in cancer. I wonder if perhaps the statistics you
cite are reversed? It makes more sense if it says that there are 500,000 new cases of HPV reported each year, and only 11,000 new cases of cervical
cancer or pre-cancerous lesions.
That would mean 2% of HPV infections result in pre-cancerous lesions or cancer, and with annual PAP smears and other early detection, these can be
treated with great success.
For those of you who are looking for support in avoiding getting these shots, or having your children get these shots, I recommend you take a look at
this editorial from the New England Journal of Medicine. Maybe even print it out to take
to the doctor with you. When the NEJM prints an opinion piece urging caution and opposing making a vaccine mandatory, you have to think there might be
good reason.