Responsible for almost 70 percent. cases of cervical cancer, leads to the development of cancer also in men, its carrier may be up to 50 percent. society, and the vaccine against it is highly effective. HPV (human papilloma virus), or human papillomavirus, is a pathogen with which you can win, but you have to have a chance. It is still difficult to find it in Poland – we are one of the few European countries where HPV vaccines are not fully reimbursed, and their availability leaves much to be desired.
- Up to 80 percent of people have contact with the human papillomavirus (HPV). of people in the world, half of them get infected, often even knowing it
- In 2006, the first HPV vaccine was developed
- Many countries immediately started implementing a universal free immunization program for school-age children – girls and boys.
- Poland presented official recommendations on this matter only in 2019
- Access to vaccines is limited due to the high demand for the preparations, their high price, and the priority in supplying countries that already implement vaccination cycles
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HPV – our common virus
HPV is a virus that most people come into contact with at least once in their life – it is estimated that up to half of the human population is infected with it, and 80% of people have contact with an infected person. people all over the world. Most have no idea about it, because the human papillomavirus often does not show up and the infection resolves on its own. The problem arises when HPV infection is chronic – the lack of characteristic symptoms puts vigilance to sleep, and when the presence of the pathogen in the body is diagnosed, the treatment of the developing neoplastic disease is very difficult.
- A mail-order diagnostic test for HPV infection is available at Medonet Market
The virus is transmitted in two ways – through contact with the epidermis (for example, when using underwear or a towel of an infected person) and through sexual contact, which is responsible for the majority of HPV infections (importantly, it is not only genital-genital contact or genital-anal contact, but also also oral-genital). This is why the risk of infection with the virus appears very quickly, already in adolescents, at the stage of sexual initiation. But it also diminishes with age, when sexual activity, especially associated with frequent change of partners, is reduced.
HPV does not exist in one form. There are as many as 120 varieties of the virus known (every third person becomes infected through sexual contact) – most of them do not cause symptoms of infection or manifest only in benign papillary lesions of the genital organs, the so-called acuminata). However, some types are highly oncogenic, which means that their intrusion into the body can lead to the development of cancer: cervix, vagina, vulva, anus, and even the throat or tongue. Research shows that the most popular types of HPV in this group – 16 and 18 – are responsible for 2/3 of cases of cervical cancer.
41 HPV genotypes are determined by the HPV virus – a panel of genetic tests for men, which you can safely and conveniently carry out in a mail-order manner, providing a self-collected sample for testing.
Although the human papillomavirus is most often associated with cervical cancer, men can also contract it and thus become seriously ill. The most oncogenic types of HPV can lead to the development of cancer of the penis, anus, mouth or throat. According to the data of the National Cancer Registry, approximately 3,4 thousand people suffer from HPV-induced cancers each year. people.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection. However, unlike many other STDs, protection against human papillomavirus infection is not so simple. The use of a condom during intercourse is sometimes not enough, therefore it is important to lead a healthy, hygienic lifestyle, to be cautious about casual sexual contacts, and to appropriate – early and regularly repeated – diagnostics. In the case of women, it is a Pap test which allows to detect an early form of cervical cancer (a smear is taken from it), when the disease does not show any symptoms yet. Women, especially sexually active, should have a Pap smear once a year.
- Make an appointment for a cytology! You can buy the study at Medonet Market
HPV vaccine without reaction
The human papillomavirus vaccine does not protect against all types of HPV, but it provides immunity against the most dangerous and neoplastic variants. Its effectiveness is greatest in the case of girls and boys, therefore it is recommended that it be administered to young people aged 11–12 years, before they have sexual initiation. The HPV vaccination course consists of two or three doses of the vaccine. The earlier we start vaccination (it can be done already when the child turns 9 years old), the greater the chance that the third dose will not be needed because the body will produce enough antibodies).
This is important information, because vaccination against the human papillomavirus is not cheap – one dose of the vaccine costs even PLN 500-600. Although it is included in the group of recommended vaccinations in the vaccination calendar, interest in it is negligible. There is, of course, a dissuasive price, but also a lack of adequate education in this regard. Most Polish parents scrupulously monitor the implementation of preventive vaccinations, including those recommended, in the first years of a child’s life. Later, when most of the booster doses are taken, the pressure to implement the recommended vaccinations is drastically reduced.
This approach is not typical. Poland is one of the few countries that over the years has not decided to publicly vaccinate children against HPV or at least partially reimburse it.
Meanwhile, the first vaccine protecting against the human papillomavirus hit the market as early as 2006. A year later, Australia started to vaccinate girls with it for free. It is not without reason that this country is mentioned as a model in the context of fighting HPV infections and reducing the incidence of cervical cancer. He was not only the first to decide to introduce routine vaccinations in girls, but also the one who quickly – already in 2013 – included boys in this program and the first and so far the only one on such a scale who can announce in the context of the aforementioned struggle, success.
This is evidenced by the results of a study published three years ago in The Lancet Public Health, which presents excellent statistics on the incidence – or rather the absence of – of cervical cancer. At the moment in Australia per 100 thousand. women are diagnosed with only two cases of this cancer. This is due to the extensive vaccination campaign and screening.
With its vision of eradication of cervical cancer, as the disease most often associated with human papillomavirus infection, which can be caused by such activities, Australia has “infected” many countries, including European countries. By 2015, almost the entire European Union was convinced of them. Only five countries were reluctant, for which the announcement of a recommendation to carry out HPV vaccination as protection against cancer was not a priority. Poland was among them.
Better late than never?
It is not fully known why the Ministry of Health had doubts about the effectiveness of HPV vaccines. There were voices that the problem is not as big as it is portrayed and that pharmaceutical companies want to win something back from human panic. They cited the lack of unambiguous studies confirming the effectiveness of vaccinations, and at the end of their too high cost.
Fortunately, not all local governments shared the opinion of the government. Vaccines were available, so individual municipalities from several provinces began to carry out orders, which decided to pay extra for vaccination. Puchaczów went the farthest in the Lublin region, which in 2007 decided to include boys in the vaccination program. In other Polish cities, the discussion lasted for years. The crowning argument of the opponents of vaccine funding was their poor availability.
Indeed, a vaccine against the human papillomavirus is not easy to buy. Three preparations are registered in Poland, protecting against the most common types of the virus, mainly from the group of highly oncogenic. The latest one immunizes against nine HPV serotypes. They are tested and effective, but worldwide demand far outstrips supply. Their producers do not keep up with the execution of orders, because the production of vaccines is a very time-consuming process. In addition, priority is given to locations where a vaccination program is already implemented – preparations can not be missing for those who have already started the cycle and are waiting for the second or third dose. For this reason, Poland is not a country of priority supplies for companies.
This is also bad news because, after many years of doubts and discussions, it was finally decided to issue official recommendations regarding vaccination against HPV. They were included in the National Oncological Strategy for 2020–2030 (NSO), announced last year. The document announced the launch of free vaccination against the human papillomavirus from this year in the case of adolescent girls, and the inclusion of boys in the program from 2026.
The NSO has set an ambitious goal: by 2028, at least 60% of vaccinated people are to be vaccinated. girls and boys. Ambitious, because its implementation is to be based on the model of vaccine distribution in pharmacies, and the patient is to partially pay for the preparation. The experience of other European countries shows that this model does not work – the vaccination rate is then a maximum of 30%. This is only half of the target set by the resort.
Experts and representatives of the Polish medical community have no doubts that vaccinations against HPV should be universal, fully reimbursed, at least recommended (if not obligatory) and available to patients in primary care. The government claims that at the moment there are no funds in the state budget for such a large expenditure, although it does not exclude that in the coming years the rules of financing vaccines will change.
Let it happen, because according to scientific reports, vaccination against HPV can really change the landscape of national oncology. In 2019, the medical journal Lancet reported that countries with 12 years of vaccination program had a marked decrease in pre-cancerous lesions, as well as condylomata acuminata in young people.
Protection against HPV is an investment with long-term effects. The effects of vaccination will probably be visible only in two or three decades, but they will certainly lead to solid savings. First in terms of health, because there will be a decrease in the incidence of diseases caused by HPV infection (from warts to cancer), then in the financial aspect, when there will be no need to spend billions of zlotys on oncological treatment of patients with complications after infection with the human papillomavirus.
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