One thing that is important to know regarding the human papilloma virus is that there are several different strains of the disease that cause different problems. Some types of the human papilloma virus are relatively harmless, and may manifest themselves in the form of warts on the hand or the feet. The types of human papilloma virus that cause genital warts to appear are the ones that increase a woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer, and the major strains that have been identified as possible precursors to cervical cancer include strains 6, 11, 16, and 18. Two different vaccines have been developed that work to eliminate a woman’s susceptibility to these types of human papilloma virus: one named Gardasil and another named Cervarix. Gardasil has been shown in laboratory tests to be effective when it comes to preventing infections of human papilloma virus strains 6, 11, 16 and 18, while Cervarix has been shown to be useful in eliminating infections of strains 16 and 18. Strains 6 and 11 have been shown to result in genital warts in the victim, while strains 16 and 18 are the ones that are principally responsible for the development of cervical cancer. To that end, Cervarix can help to eliminate the possibility of developing cervical cancer while Gardasil can be useful for both eliminating the risk of developing cervical cancer as well as the risk of developing genital warts.
Hopefully, the coming years will show us much progress when it comes to working towards eliminating the human papilloma virus once and for all. As of the writing of this article, several states are pending legislation that will make the vaccine required for girls which will be a major stride in lessening infections of HPV and lowering rates of cervical cancer.