Okay. I’m hoping that the events of the last week are almost behind me. It would be nice to be able to get up in the morning and just take care of my family, then go to work. Suffice it to say/type that everything will be resolved soon, and that I’m tired of other people who have no sensitivity regarding how they are affecting other people’s lives. But that’s enough about that already.
Let’s have a post about something that is extremely serious... and about which people (not just women) should educate themselves NOW.
It’s HPV. HPV is the Human papillomavirus (and for those of you wondering, NO… this is not the reason for my recent ‘troubles.’ And thank God for that!).
RUN, don’t walk to this website: www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm
This infection isn’t just an annoyance. Sometimes, it goes away. Sometimes, it doesn’t. HPV’s role in cervical and other cancers isn’t something that we hear a lot about in the media. There aren’t any celebrities wearing ribbons at awards ceremonies for HPV research. But this silent monster is everywhere, and very few people are talking about it. Very few people know the facts… and the facts are staggering.
Anyone, male or female, can contract HPV. Men can give it to women, and vice versa. Unfortunately for women, it's much more dangerous to us.
The only preventive measure? No genital contact. Period. Or monogamous contact with someone who has been tested and is uninfected. That’s scary. Really scary.
If you are among the very few people who are aware of HPV, you may know there’s an HPV vaccine that’s been in the news. That seems like pretty good news... but did you know that the vaccine only offers protection from FOUR of the nearly 50 types of HPV?
When I was a teenager, the chances of contracting a sexually-transmitted disease was about 1 in 32.
The statistics today (which vary, depending upon whose information you’re reading) are more like 1 in 3.
Take a look at the person to your right, then look at the person to your left. Chances are, one of you has an STD. That STD might be something that is merely annoying... or more likely, it might be something that will affect the rest of your life.
No one can make decisions for you. You are the owner of all your choices. All I ask of you is that you educate yourself before you make choices. Please read about HPV, and tell your friends to read about it. We need this information to reach more people.
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3 comments:
Isn't there a new vaccine for HPV? The link between HPV and cancer is so scary.
OMG, I'm so not letting my husband read this post. The whole HPV vaccine and the way it is being media handled has driven him insane recently (and frankly, I don't want to hear him rail about it anymore, lol). He, in fact, blogged about it incessantly for several posts. If you want a huge amount of information about it, he's got it on his blog (just click "Paul" on my links).
-r-: there is, but it only offers 'protection' from about four types of HPV. And there are about 50 different types. Yikes.
tammara: I'll have to go read his rants! :-)
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