A review of the pathogenicity of the human papilloma virus and barriers towards vaccination amongst adolescent females in the United States

The Human Papilloma Virus infection has been identified as the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, affecting over 20 million people in the country. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported there were an estimated 529,000 new cases and 27,400 deaths due to cervical cancer. 75% of these are caused by the high risk type virus strains of Human Papilloma Virus, Type 16&18. Recent findings have also indicated a rapid rise in the incidence of Oropharyngeal cancer with an annual incidence of approximately 400,000 worldwide and with over 90% of positive cases being associated with infection with the virus. These results are of public health significance in addressing medical care costs that might be accrued as a result of providing care for chronic conditions and reducing mortality rates in the country.\ud In spite of these figures, there are still significant low rates of compliance amongst female adolescents with receiving vaccines. This essay attempts to provide a literature review of the recent trends associated with the pathogenicity of the virus, examine previous vaccination trends and formulate new intervention strategies to combat the low perception and relatively low rate of compliance with vaccination amongst young female adolescents.\u