Talk:Human papillomavirus infection/Archive 2

There seems to be some contention about the recent addition regarding Diane Harper's criticisms on the vaccine: whether Harper is a reliable source, and if so, whether the content is a reliable paraphrase of her view. I'd like to open discussion here so others may add their views. This could also effect the information added on the article Gardasil as well. Auntie E. (talk) 03:33, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

That was not a recent addition, user "SuaveArt" used a deceptive edit summary, saying he was removing spam, to remove that content so I didn't realize that until now. That is valid content. User "SuaveArt" is the one proposing changes, probably stalking user "Seregain" edits, since "SuaveArt" is not an active editor in this topic. That said "Seregain" edit looked a little bit biased but I balanced it.--Nutriveg (talk) 10:46, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

I removed the section again, since it's more than just a bit biased, and all the link to the more reliable source does is tell us more reliably that she said it (but it does nothing to tell us whether it's likely to be true). Since there's really no actual data to support her assertions, and Harper's a reasonably well-known anti-vaxx "expert", a using the quote as a source amounts to nothing more than an argument based entirely on an argument from (questionable) authority. – ClockworkSoul 03:26, 13 January 2010 (UTC) (Copyedited for clarity – ClockworkSoul 16:54, 13 January 2010 (UTC))

She is a recognized authority in the subject, he was hired by the two companies that make the vaccines and her studies were cited by other scientists. I'll rewrite that later.--Nutriveg (talk) 11:35, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

The growing scientific consensus is that human papillomavirus was created in a lab, during research on the origins of certain marine isopod diseases. The original intentions were good but it was later released in to the human population in order to sell the vaccine. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.91.55.102 (talk) 14:19, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

I don't think her statements can really be called "criticisms" as she never advised against people using the vaccine. Just an observation. In any case, Harper was the lead researcher for the HPV vaccine, so I don't see how she could not be seen as a reliable source. If I have misread the reports of her statements, please correct and accept my apology. Seregain (talk) 14:41, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

My major gripe with the addition isn't so much the statement itself as the complete lack of context and perspective. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the HPV vaccine doesn't reduce the rates of cervical cancer among women who get annual pap smears. It's important to remember a number of points, however. First, there is a significant percentage of the population that either has limited access to health care, or (which always boggles my mind) simply chooses not to use it when it is available. Second, the vaccine certainly will reduce the number of pre-cancerous neoplasms, and therefore the often very unpleasant unpleasant procedures that are used to interrupt the progression of high-grade lesions to full-blown cancer. Finally, we shouldn't forget that the vaccine also targets types 6 and 11, two agents of genital warts that have no currently measurable association to cancer. – ClockworkSoul 16:49, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Well for me she criticizes the importance given to the vaccination compared with screening, the administration of the vaccine for children under 15, the lack of information of the duration of vaccine efficacy, the importance of continued screening, ... All we can rewrite of course, but I don't agree to represent "criticism of her opinion" that can't be equally sourced.--Nutriveg (talk) 19:01, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Which is essentially what she's saying in the originally quoted source... however, this article doesn't read that way in its current form. One could forgive a nervous reader, confused and perhaps frightened by the bombardment of misinformation from all quarters, interpreting it as meaning that the vaccine won't reduce cancer and therefore isn't worth getting. I'm actually thinking that the comment really shouldn't be in the human papillomavirus article in the first place, since she's really discussing the vaccine, and not the virus, and while an overview of the vaccine topic is appropriate, a full examination of the issues is beyond this article's scope. So I'm actually suggesting two things: we first move the Harper stuff to HPV vaccine, and then we deal with the content as reasonably as possible over there. – ClockworkSoul 21:50, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, my interest is restricted to HPV article, not "HPV vaccine", so I expect to discuss those issues in the context of this article.--Nutriveg (talk) 23:46, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

That's a curious response... Generally, when deciding the contents of articles, the personal interests of the editors matter less than the relevance of the material to the subject of the article. I'm not at all convinced that Dr. Harper's assertions are relevant enough to the human papillomavirus subject to be included in what should be a brief summary of the HPV vaccine article, especially when it's not even discussed to any degree in the HPV vaccine article itself. – ClockworkSoul 00:23, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I deserve the right to decide which articles I want to edit, the HPV vaccine article is a mess I don't want to get further involved. The original source has been superseded by a secondary source by the same author, which balances pretty well the benefits listed in that section.--Nutriveg (talk) 00:45, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm happy with your recent edits. Well done. – ClockworkSoul 03:48, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Hi, just for the record, there was never any consensus to add the paragraph to begin with (it was added by Seregain, then removed and re-inserted a few times). Also please note that Seregain is an

evangelical Christian and has made it obvious by several of his edits that he added this here in order to push an abstinence-only POV (which is why I searched his edits after detecting hints of bias on his part).--SuaveArt (talk

) 00:22, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

HPV infections affect susceptibility to other STDs - in most causes elevating risk but paradoxically also preventing seroconversion of AIDS under specific circumstances. In the long term such indirect effects could become one of the most important points in evaluation of HPV vaccines, yet it is hard to predict at the moment. Did anyone have a look into this? Richiez (talk) 09:18, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

I do strongly disagree with this edit. The previous version imho represents mainstream opinion. Did you check that the source really claims what the edit says? Even if it does, it is not a review and should not be used to push such controversial content. Richiez (talk) 13:47, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Hi Richiez. I think you misread my edit. Higher infection is the main cause for higher cervical cancer, Parkin says, and it makes sense, doesn't it? The cited source (Parkin, freely available via PubMed) compiles different sources, so although it is not a review, it is kind of a review. The 3rd sentence of the discussion reads

The percentage of infection-attributable cancer is higher in developing countries (26.3%) than in developed countries (7.7%), reflecting the higher prevalence of infection with the major causative agents (hepatitis viruses, HPV, HP and HIV) (Table XI).

I originally only wanted to delete the first part of the sentence related to the causal relationship between less Pap smears and higher cancer incidence, because this is not even mentioned in the cited source, but since I found in the same source the cited explanation claiming a causal relationship between infection and infection-attributable cancer incidence, I added this. If you feel that Parkin's claim is not backed up enough, we can agree to leave it out, but please also leave out the totally unsourced part about Pap smears.--Biologos (talk) 16:12, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

I deleted the Pap smear part and left the disputed part out, too. Now the rest seemed to fit better in the Epidemiology section, so I moved it. I hope we can agree on this.--Biologos (talk) 16:25, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Richiez

Parkin's claim is dubious at best with relation to HPV. He provides no source to back up that claim. The most charitable interpretation I can figure is that the other factors are more prevalent in less developed countries (though there may be more to it for even those - since antiretrovirals, etc., are also less available in less developed countries). For HPV I have seen no evidence that it is less prevalent in developed countries, and there is no reason to expect that at this time. Higher infection with HPV could conceivably be a cause, but greater availability of preventive treatments (which come after HPV infection, but before cervical cancer) is a much more likely explanation.

The efficacy of Pap smear screening programs is well established. Such programs have resulted in an approximately 80% decrease in cervical cancers. (cite journal| journal = Annals of Oncology | volume = 21 | page = 448–458 | year = 2010| title = European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening. Second Edition | author = M. Arbyn; et al. | number = 3 | doi=doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp471 ) The decrease in cervical cancer in the US and many developed nations in recent decades has been attributed to Pap smear screening. Such programs are much less common in developed nations. The effect of Pap smear screening on cervical cancers is sufficiently large that it would explain most of the (approximately 80%) difference in cancer prevalence between more and less developed nations.

So a citation would improve that claim, but it does reflect the mainstream opinion.

When I added the Parkin citation (to a sentence that had no citation at all), it was as a citation for the relative prevalence, not for the reason. I tried to clarify that by putting in a citation needed tag for the first part.

As far as the claim that HR HPV is significantly more prevalent in less developed nations, would need much better sources to back up that Parkin's claim applies to HPV and that it is a widely held opinion. Zodon (talk) 19:20, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

From just reading the abstract, the de Sanjose reference also seems a bit dubious as support for the claim. It does not appear to differentiate based on development status, (for instance, Asia - which has a large proportion of developing nations has the lowest incidence in their summary). Also, it isn't clear that they adjust the data for other factors like age (HPV infection strongly correlated with age, and development status also has correlations with age distribution). Zodon (talk) 19:49, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Hi Biologos, I did not misread your statement. Regarding the sentence you quote look at the definition of attributable that the author uses. Simply put he says 100% of cervical cancers are attributable to HPV. This is true or "good enough for all practical purposes" but he does not say that it is the only cause and nowhere does he say there are no other causes - you seem to have overinterpreted the statement. To explain it a bit drastically HPV may cause cervical carcinoma but if you amputate the cervix you are pretty safe from getting it. So you can at the same time claim that (a) 100% of cervical cancers are attributable to HPV and (b) 100% are attributable to not having an amputated cervix and (c) 100% are attributable to beeing a women. Richiez (talk) 20:59, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you for your comments. I see what you mean. Parkin's opinion is not backed up by data in the cited paper, so it's best to leave it out. Since the beneficial effect of Pap smears is already mentioned two paragraphs above*, my changes to the sentence and the move still seem the right thing to do. Agreed? *Zodon, if you apply the same high standards of scientific evidence you applied to Parkin's claim to the claim that "Pap smears have reduced the incidence and fatalities of cervical cancer", we'll need much better sources than the home page of the NCCC. According to Pap test and the discussion there, an increase in Pap smears correlates with a decrease in cervical cancer, but the relative importance of Pap smears for this is hard to quantify.--Biologos (talk) 08:00, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

The sentence is fine as it is now. The data in Parkin's paper appears sensible though highly specialised. The problem was that the earlier edit was a subtle bit of

PMID 8747379)Richiez (talk

) 20:18, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

Biologos - Removing it was okay by me. It was peripheral since this article is about HPV, rather than cervical CA or Pap smear. (And, as you note similar observation about efficacy of Paps already covered.) Moving it down into the body was okay too.

Not sure what you are saying about sourcing for the Pap smear reducing cervical cancer incidence. The NCCC reference seems okay (although as far as I can see it is mostly a reference for the statistics on deaths). It may not be the highest quality reference, but it isn't being used to back up some extraordinary claim. The observation that Pap smears reduce cervical cancer is a commonplace - sure, a citation is worthwhile for the sake of completeness and style (e.g. to eventually get article to a better quality grade), but there is nothing controversial or unexpected about that claim. (Extraordinary claims require extraordinarily good sources (therefore looked very closely at Parkin - since what was said was extraordinary), conversely pedestrian claims don't require as good sources. Not saying that good sources aren't better - just don't have to be so careful about undue weight, etc.)

The Arbyn reference above substantiates the claim that Pap smears have reduced cervical cancers; since Arbyn is, among other things, a review citing other sources it is a reasonably good source. It also gives an idea of what a comprehensive screening program can reasonably achieve (80% reduction in cervical CA). (I would not suggest using

PMID 8747379 - some of the claims they make in the abstract are dubious at best, also it would be less preferred since it is a non-english source. There are lots of more accessible sources.) Zodon (talk

) 05:01, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

The link between cervical cancer and HPV is well reported, but mention should be made of HPV's link to anal and oral cancers - it accounts for about 70% of cases for both. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.127.84.174 (talk) 03:21, 22 May 2009 (UTC) Agreed - the referenced link (http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm) now mentions potential cancers of the head and neck but the wikipedia article doesn't - this should be corrected, but I'm not familiar enough with referencing notation to do it myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.46.93.194 (talk) 23:59, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

In section "Cancers": Sexually-transmitted HPVs also cause [...] approximately 25% of cancers of the mouth and upper throat (the oropharynx) (see figure). But the figure "HPV-induced cancers" shows a much smaller fraction of both mouth and throat cancers as HPV-induced. The cited source for both the number and the graph (Parkin 2006) says on p.3033 after discussing the evidence: For the purpose of estimation, it is assumed that 3% of oral cavity cancers and 12% of cancers of the oropharynx are attributable to HPV. That can hardly add up to 25%.--94.222.122.165 (talk) 01:38, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

This is similar to the format we see at

i want to know if woman with cervical cancer can have sex and if hpv originated from male and transfered to woman? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.96.226.90 (talk) 03:15, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Had to fix a few mistakes in the E6/E7 proteins section. The genome is stated to be composed of 'proteins' instead of genes; E3 was mistakenly listed as an HPV gene; E5 gene and long control region were absent. Casonthemason (talk) 17:41, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

The following was recently deleted from the article.[2]

Note that prevalence decreases with age. This may be due to the HPV infections being cleared by the immune system, or sinking to undetectable levels while still present in the body.^{[citation needed]}

The summary alleged that it was untrue. Which portion do you doubt? That prevalence decreases, or that it is unknown about clearance. The former is of course true. The latter has been true, though if you have citations that support it is now known one way or other I would be quite interested. Parking here to gather citations for reinstatement. Zodon (talk) 07:05, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Hi, I think that the comparison of certain HPVs with shark suckerfish that was added in 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_papillomavirus&diff=prev&oldid=58110537 ) and recently deleted (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_papillomavirus&diff=491287539&oldid=491137361 ) and subsequently restored is not very good. Latent viruses don't eat, do they? Also, HPV-5, mentioned as harmless in the sentence before, can also cause warts, see http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/pox/2000/HPV5.html .--Biologos (talk) 11:04, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

I removed the following section today:

A 2009 study published in

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Furthermore, African Americans had far less HPV infection than whites, which led to worse survival.^[1]

This seemed a little hinky to me, so I read the cited source and found that its conclusion is very different from what's written above. What the authors did write was interesting, but not earth-shattering: as a group, head and neck tumors in blacks had less HPV than those in whites, and were also more resistant to treatment. Also, the authors presented data that showed that head and neck cancer caused by HPV is considerably more responsive to chemotherapy than cancer that arises spontaneously. The authors didn't speculate on the reason for this relationship, or for the reasons behind the differences in HPV status in the head and neck tumors of the two ethnic groups. To say that the study suggests that "having the human papillomavirus improves survival", however, is way off. – ClockworkSoul 12:41, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

I thought the item looked suspicious, but hadn't gotten around to checking it. Thanks.

I restored the current research section title, since the Microbicides subsection was also in that section. Zodon (talk) 18:48, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Doh. Thanks for fixing that. – ClockworkSoul 19:43, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

I'm thinking of adding some more specific, but brief, summaries of academic research in a couple of areas where it's missing: hand transmission, clearance, and testing. I'm thinking Clearance can go at the end of Virology, but am open to other ideas. Numbersinstitute (talk) 23:59, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

At least get a picture of the infection or something like that. I really do not want to upload it myself because I am not good with copyright. --Thenewguy34 (talk) 00:20, 1 February 2013 (UTC)

whether these neoplasia structures will effect the human life — Preceding unsigned comment added by 183.83.119.61 (talk) 04:34, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Under Diagnosis, Cervical testing, replace the “quoted” information below:

According to the National Cancer Institute, "testing samples of cervical cells is an effective way to identify high-risk types of HPV that may be present. The FDA has approved an HPV test as a follow-up for women who have an ambiguous Pap test and, for women over the age of 30, for general cervical cancer screening. This HPV test can identify at least 13 of the high-risk types of HPV associated with the development of cervical cancer. The test can detect high-risk types of HPV even before there are any conclusive visible changes to the cervical cells.”

To:

According to the National Cancer Institute, “The most common test detects DNA from several high-risk HPV types, but it cannot identify the type(s) that are present. Another test is specific for DNA from HPV types 16 and 18, the two types that cause most HPV-associated cancers. A third test can detect DNA from several high-risk HPV types and can indicate whether HPV-16 or HPV-18 is present. A fourth test detects RNA from the most common high-risk HPV types. These tests can detect HPV infections before cell abnormalities are evident.

“Theoretically, the HPV DNA and RNA tests could be used to identify HPV infections in cells taken from any part of the body. However, the tests are approved by the FDA for only two indications: for follow-up testing of women who seem to have abnormal Pap test results and for cervical cancer screening in combination with a Pap test among women over age 30.”^[1]

Reason for Change:

The current page cites information from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) site in 2010. This information is no longer accessible on the current NCI website. I recommend that we update this section with information from the current National Cancer Institute: HPV and Cervical Cancer page. This information reviews four HPV detection tests and the current FDA indications for such tests.

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Under Diagnosis, Cervical testing, add:

In April 2011, the

The cobas HPV Test was evaluated in the ATHENA trial, which studied more than 47,000 U.S. women 21 years old and older undergoing routine cervical cancer screening. [4] Results from the ATHENA trial demonstrated that 1 in 10 women, age 30 and older, who tested positive for HPV 16 and/or 18, actually had cervical pre-cancer even though they showed normal results with the Pap test. ^[5]

Reason for Change:

The section discusses FDA-approved HPV tests but does not have a full listing of FDA-approved HPV tests. The FDA approved the cobas HPV Test in 2011 to detect high-risk HPV types. We recommend adding an explanation of the test and supporting clinical trial information. References provided for this addition are WP:NPOV. They include a FDA page and a study published in American Society for Clinical Pathology.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.182.214.218 (talk • contribs) 18:30, 9 October 2013‎

• Note Both requested edits appear to have been implemented by 199.182.214.218 (talk · contribs) two weeks later. Voceditenore (talk) 17:44, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

The more I look at the HPV page and the Cervical cancer I notice differences in the data. From Cervical cancer: Of the 150-200 types of HPV known, 15 are classified as high-risk types (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73, and 82), 3 as probable high-risk (26, 53, and 66), and 12 as low-risk (6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 70, 72, 81, and CP6108). Before my change on HPV: Of the 120 known human papillomaviruses, 51 species and three subtypes infect the genital mucosa. Of these 31 are considered to present a low risk of carcinogensis; 17 are considered to be high risk and 6 are of intermediate risk. I would like to know if anyone could clarify the differences with some modern sources? I know think that my change can be undone but it should be replaced with something consitent between the two pages. Also, does anyone know if I should be posting on both talk pages? Another example: Cervical cancer: Human papillomavirus type 16 and 18 are the cause of 75% of cervical cancer globally while 31 and 45 are the cause of another 10%. HPV Article: High-risk oncogenic HPV types (including HPV 16 and HPV 18) are associated with 99.7% of all cervical cancers. While the two don't conflict, I think that it would be nice to either include both for prospective or to come up some other information, what do others think?Hardkhora (talk) 21:34, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

I noticed that there isnt really a paragraph about it's history and its 'origins', when it had become prevalent. It reads like that it all came up in the past 5+ years or so, which i find hard to believe, considering the sheer volume of prevalence of different strain-types. anyone who can put some enlightenment into this ? Archangel Michael (talk) 17:25, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

The

^Talk

17:37, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

Although the association of HPV with cancer has been fairly recent, the fifth century information mentioned by

User talk:GrahamColm, if verified, should be included as part of the history of this family of viruses. Information on the identification of the various types over time would be interesting, too. Does anyone have this information? As is, the "History" is a stub section. Thank you for your time, Wordreader (talk

) 23:48, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

The article states there are 120 types but over in the Plantar wart article it references HPV-156 which implies there are at least 156 identified viruses. What is the actual number currently known and if it is 120 why did the numbering scheme skip up to 156? 97.85.168.22 (talk) 19:08, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

The HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to HPV research and support of anal cancer (and other HPV-related cancers) sufferers, states that there are over 200 types of HPV: "There are over 200 HPV strains that can affect the human body. The vast majority of these viruses affect the skin and cause benign warts. About 40 HPV types are sexually transmitted and about 15 of those strains cause lesions that can progress to cancer." There is more information as well. http://www.analcancerfoundation.org/learn/hpv/ Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 17:05, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

3 in 10 people have or had a form of HPV. But if one belongs to a group that changes partner more than 2 times a month and never uses condoms, then the 100% have HPV and usually 3 forms of it. Even people that are very sexually active and use condoms 8 in 10 have it, because of blowjobs or a singe time they openned the condom in a non apropriate way. Condom does not provide you a 100% safety!!! People do so many things with their hands when recorded in camera for scientific research, like touching private parts, or touching the other persons genitalia and introducing to the condom the virus before classically penetrative sex. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.131.105.179 (talk) 20:23, 10 June 2014 (UTC)

Actually, if one has only one partner in their life and that person is infected, multiple partners aren't needed for them to likewise become infected. You are correct - studies have shown that many sexually active persons have HPV on their hands and under their nails. Condoms certainly won't help with that when such a person uses manual stimulation or even just minor petting on their partner. What a scourge! Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 17:20, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

I got a notice today that someone added "There is currently black salve zinc chloride treatment for HPV infection.(1)(135)(136)" under the Treatment section. Of course, none of "citations" used say any such thing. I undid the spam/vandalism, but it's the first time I have ever done this. Can someone more knowledge please check that I did it correctly? Thank you for your time, Wordreader (talk) 23:44, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

ADDENDUM: I'm sorry, but I can't get rid of those unwanted references at the bottom of this post. Please ignore them. Wordreader (talk) 23:49, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

The article section about genital HPV prevalence says "estimates of HPV prevalence vary from 14% to more than 90%.[154]", but use of this quote seems to be misleading.

The abstract for the linked article (I didn't read the actual study) describes it as surveying many different studies, many (most?) of which are not the "general population". Right after stating the "14% to 90%" results, the abstract says "The highest prevalence of HPV was identified among women attending sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinics and college students [..] Conversely, the lowest HPV prevalence was among women in the general population." From this it can be assumed that the "90%" figure was e.g. women at STD clinics - certainly not a representative sample for the general population, which is how the quote is being used in the article.

Thoughts on that? It would seem the stat should be replaced with a number reflecting varying estimates of general population prevalence, or changed to something like "depending on the population studied (e.g. the general population or women at STD clinics), HPV prevalence estimates vary from 14% to more than 90%", but I'm not sure such a setence holds a lot of value. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.161.116.213 (talk) 19:56, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

From the HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation site: "According to The American Social Health Association, 80% of sexually active individuals in [sic] will be exposed to HPV in the United States. The National Health Service (NHS) estimates that 80% of sexually active individuals will be exposed to HPV in the United Kingdom." That's not exactly what you asked, but with more searching, you may find it.

http://www.analcancerfoundation.org/learn/hpv/

Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 01:57, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

In the 'Vaccines' section, paragraph 2, sentence 1, the sentence read, "The vaccines provide little benefit to women having already been infected with HPV types 16 and 18, which includes most sexually active females." I was surprised to see the assertion, since it would obviously mean that a huge portion of the population is at risk, so I checked it. I read through the entire text that the footnote pointed to. There was no mention anywhere that types 16 and 18 'includes most sexually active females', so I removed the clause.Star-lists (talk) 00:18, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

It would be informative to include some description as to the mechanisms used by this virus to avoid the body's immune responses. Currently in this article the only piece of information mentioning the clearing of this virus from the body is a single line from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/hpv-genital-warts/hpv-treatment-is-there-hpv-cure. This source doesn't provide any other details about this process.

From the virus Wikipedia entry, "Viral infections in animals provoke an immune response that usually eliminates the infecting virus." On that page it also states, "However, some viruses including HIV and those causing viral hepatitis evade these immune responses and cause chronic infections." On both the HIV and the viral hepatitis pages, there are descriptions of the known mechanisms each specific chronic virus uses to avoid clearing after the initial immune response. Is this information missing from the HPV entry because the specific mechanism isn't yet known? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.112.132.39 (talk) 01:24, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

In short, yes, little is known about exactly how HPV manages establish persistent infections in some individuals while being effectively cleared by most others. One major reasons for this is that HPVs are notoriously difficult to culture in the lab, and no good animal models exist (there are, however, a handful of mediocre ones). It's been appreciated for a few years, though, that these viruses are, to quote this pretty good review article , "experts at avoiding or subverting the host immune response". I'm trying to find some time to rewrite this article; I'll include what I can find on this subject when I do. – ClockworkSoul 00:22, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks!--97.112.142.149 (talk) 01:36, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

The article that Clockwork provided a link for is "Immune evasion in human papillomavirus-associated cervical cancer" from the journal, Nature Reviews Cancer. The following quote is from the University of California at San Francisco's Dysplasia Clinic informational website, "Anal Cancer Info", a collaboration between the UCSF Dysplasia Clinic and the American Cancer Society. It underscores that even now, twelve years after that article, still little is known about the natural history of HPV in humans and it's resulting cancers:

"What is the natural history of anal HPV infection? We don't really know since long-term studies have never been done. What is clear though is that most people don't run into trouble from HPV infection. Some people develop AIN [anal intraepithelial neoplasia] due to HPV infection, but most of the cases of AIN will not progress to cancer. In most people the AIN will go away by itself and they will not even have been aware of it. But for some people can be a real problem."

Last paragraph on the page, http://id.medicine.ucsf.edu/analcancerinfo/hpv/ Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 06:29, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

I found the abstract of an article that mentions HPV's ability to evade the immune system and the mechanism whereby the infection eventually leads to cancer. I don't know enough cellular biology to know if this info differs materially from what appears in this article. If you are interested, it might be possible to get the full article through the medical library at your nearest hospital or a medical center. See: "Human papillomavirus-related diseases of the female lower genital tract: oncogenic aspects and molecular interaction", journal Collegium Antropologicum (appears to be in English, at least the abstract is), 2014 Jun;38(2):779-86.

"The immune system uses innate and adaptive immunity to recognize and combat foreign agents that invade the body, but these methods are sometimes ineffective against human papillomavirus. HPV has several mechanisms for avoiding the immune system." I would hope that the full article expands on this idea. Meanwhile, "Approximately 10% of individuals develop a persistent infection, and it is this cohort who is at risk of cancer progression, with the development of high-grade precursor lesions and eventually invasive carcinoma." Yikes! I thought it was a lower percentage. Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 08:04, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

For this reference number, the citation is as follows:

Tay SK, Ho TH, Lim-Tan SK (Aug 1990). "Is genital human papillomavirus infection always sexually transmitted?" (Free full text). The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology 30 (3): 240–242. doi:10.1111/j.1479-828X.1990.tb03223.x. ISSN 0004-8666.

The ISSN links to the correct journal as listed in WorldCat, the doi links to the correct article on the Wiley Online Library, but the article title links to a Medline Plus webpage titled "Genital Warts. Sorry, but I'm lost when it comes to manipulating citations. Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 08:35, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

ADDENDUM: I either made an error or the article is no longer available in a full free format, but as a first page peek only: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-828X.1990.tb03223.x/pdf Oops, Wordreader (talk) 19:49, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Greetings:

The error still exists in reference #56. The linked title still goes to that Medline page on genital warts instead of the "Is genital human papillomavirus infection always sexually transmitted?" journal article. Can someone who knows how to wrangle citations please repair that erroneous link? It should go to the preview peek page at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-828X.1990.tb03223.x/pdf Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 19:49, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Would anyone be willing to take a look at my edits and give me their opinion?Whereismylunch (talk) 06:11, 7 December 2014 (UTC) How do I remove these links from my thread?Whereismylunch (talk) 18:06, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

This section reads: "HPV vaccines (Cervarix and Gardasil), which prevent infection with the HPV types (16 and 18) that cause 70% of cervical cancer, may lead to further decreases." Do the vaccines cause cervical cancer or do HPV type 16 and 18 cause cervical cancer? Aleksandar Bulovic' (talk) 17:52, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

HPV causes cervical cancers. HPV vaccines prevent HPV infections. Do you think it's unclear, because if it is, we should rewrite?SkepticalRaptor (talk) 22:40, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

I do feel that way, yes. Maybe: "HPV vaccines, Cervarix and Gardasil, which prevent infection with the HPV types 16 and 18(Which are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer), may lead to further decreases." Aleksandar Bulovic' (talk) 20:54, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

The FDA has recently approved Gardasil-9, which protects against nine strains of HPV (as opposed to four). The "Vaccines" section of this article needs to be updated with that information. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm426485.htm Muzilon (talk) 11:12, 8 March 2015 (UTC)

I placed an outdated tag in the lead because there is information in the 4th paragraph (...but even so there were 11,000 cases and 3,900 deaths in the U.S. in 2008.) that surely can be updated as this is 2015.

Information in the body has dates from 2002 (Cancer section), 2005 and 2009 (Blood section), and 2008, but does have some from 2010 (2010 International Papillomavirus Conference). I feel that there has to be some updated information later than 2002. There was a conference in 2015, the 30th conference (www.hpv2015.org), so hopefully someone will look at this.

Articles like this are important to men, women, and Wikipedia. The projects associated with them have tagged them as High-importance and Top-importance. With this in mind the article needs to be reviewed for updated information. Please do not remove this tag without addressing the issue. Otr500 (talk) 13:23, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

"Furthermore, HPV can induce a tumorigenic process by integration in host genome associated with alterations in DNA copy number, no funcional [sic] alternative splicing, inter and intrachromosomal rearrangements and changes in patterns of DNA methylation, the latter also produced by the virus extracrhomosomal."

OK, can someone please translate this newly-added sentence into plain English? Muzilon (talk) 12:00, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

You are referring to content in the 3rd paragraph (needed so the whole section does not have to be read). Being a medical and scientific journal this does not need explaining. WAIT! Wikipedia is NOT a scientific and/or medical journal? OMG! Tumorigenic means capable of forming or tending to form tumors. There is a "further explanation needed" tag but that should be "translation needed". Other than that I have no idea what is meant and I suspect you may find it hard to locate an interpreter.

The sentence begins with "Futhermore" (additionally) and then goes into language, that means zero to the average reader, so there is no actual way to tie the content to what is previously stated.

The last sentence In the United States, HPV is expected to replace tobacco as the main causative agent for oral cancer gives a reference to the "California Dental Hygienists’ Association" (http://cdha.org/) that does not present ANY information to support the sentence without possibly reading the entire website and links.

The article needs to be reviewed for a possible rewrite. At the very least sections need to be updated and checked for cohesion and readability. What does no funcional alternative splicing mean being thrown into the sentence? Was it just copied from text? The spelling "funcional" I suspect is meant to be functional but what do I know. The content is supported by a reference, here, that (in a box marked "significant") states: "However, the role of HPV integration in primary tumors beyond increasing the expression of viral oncoproteins is not understood.", and does not support content. I question the entire content, general inclusion as being possible OR or POV, with the purely medically (scientifically) presented wording that is confusing at best.

The jest of the paragraph is that HPV is associated with cancer, especially oral cancer, but everything from "Furthermore" to the end does not help and is not directly supported by a source.

• If someone doesn't address the issue then remove it. I guess an alternative would be to hide it (<!-- Hidden text -->) until addressed. Otr500 (talk) 14:53, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

...but it really isn't. I have the references to update this article and I am marking the statements that require the referencing that I will do

  Bfpage |leave a message  01:40, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

I have successfully and fairly easily removed three warts on my own genitalia using 80% acetic acid (found in groceries) with a Q-Tip to the area, holding it for 40 seconds and afterward rinsing with water. After a day the warts turned white and the application zone - typical of chemical burn. After two weeks the wound was cured and all of them gone. It cost me 1$. 87.79.215.60 (talk) 23:30, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

Under the Epidemiology section of the article, a reference is made to the American Social Health Association, but the citation links to the American Sexual Health Association for the statistic that 75-80% of sexually active Americans will be infected with HPV at least once in their lifetime. Also, the links in the references are no longer valid for both citations on that statistic but I quickly found a link that was. http://www.ashasexualhealth.org/podcast-hpv-ina-park-md/ 137.54.22.139 (talk) 21:08, 23 July 2016 (UTC) July 23 2016

You are absolutely correct. I've started to work on improving these outdated refs. Thank you. See your talk page for more information. Best Regards,

Barbara (WVS) (talk) 21:28, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

I just did a fairly major reorganization of the lead and first few sections of this article. My goal was to improve clarity and eliminate redundancy. In particular, the previous edit of the page often produced redundant information by repeating the same or similar assertions under different headings. In some cases the article made contradictory assertions in different places (e.g. the percentage of cervical cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18). I think these problems were the result of growith of the article by piecemeal addition rather than holistic modification.

To resolve these problems, I grouped together information by topic, separating the different symptoms and also the different associated cancers.

- Wwallacee (talk) 13:43, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Have restored the prior content. The lead was fully referenced before and the changes resulted in coms content that was not referenced.

Per

WP:LEAD the lead should be about 4 paragraphs and it should cover the topic broadly. Doc James (talk · contribs · email

) 18:53, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

We first list all the cancers that HPV increases the risk of. Next sentence we common on the most common cervical cancer Than in the third sentence we touch on all the other cancers mentioned in sentence number on Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 18:54, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Which content in the lead was redundant? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 18:55, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

In response to the above comments:

1. Thank you all for mostly respecting my edit in the final analysis, in spite of some citation problems which may have been introduced inadvertently.

2. The redundancy I called attention to was not in the lead, but in the subsequent sections, and often involved contradictions between facts asserted in the different sections. Again, I am not going to go through the piece with a fine-tooth comb to prove this, but if you look at the percentages of cases of cervical cancer alleged to be caused by HPV types 16 and 18, you will see what I'm talking about.

3. The problems with clarity that I called attention to had to do with conflation of various types of HPV and various associated clinical symptoms. An example of this has been reintroduced into the lead, so I will quote it to demonstrate the point: "It is cause [sic] by a human papillomavirus, a DNA virus from the papillomavirus family. Risk factors for persistent HPV infections include early age of first sexual intercourse, multiple partners, smoking, and poor immune function. HPV is typically spread by sustained direct skin-to-skin contact with vaginal and anal sex being the most common method]"

In the above quote, note the conflation of HPV per se with sexually transmitted HPV, which is only one subtype. Note also the grammatical error, indicative of a prior edit by a person with poor command of English, which has now been reintroduced.

Best wishes, - Wwallacee (talk) 09:08, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

2. The lead is supposed to summarize the body. Agree that the lead is sometimes update and corrected when the body is not.

3.a. This is correct and refers to the disease generally not a specific type "It is cause [sic] by a human papillomavirus, a DNA virus from the papillomavirus family."

b. Each of these risk factors is true for some type including some for none sexually transmitted types "Risk factors for persistent HPV infections include early age of first sexual intercourse, multiple partners, smoking, and poor immune function."

c. This is true for the disease generally "HPV is typically spread by sustained direct skin-to-skin contact with vaginal and anal sex being the most common method" and then highlights the most specific notable route.

Yes I am the person with a poor command of English grammar which I would argue is not the same as poor command of English. I have added a "d" to "cause" Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 16:18, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

• An estimated 561,200 new cancer cases worldwide (5.2% of all new cancers)
• 84% of new cervical cancers
• 50% of all new cancers
• 99.7% of all cervical cancers

This whole paragraph could be claiming either "types of cancers" or "cancer cases".

I have also added some clarify tags, as there are several sentences that make little sense, and could even be said to be misleading.

"might benefit some sub-populations of men or women engaging in anal sex"
Aside from the 'or' being incorrect as it should be 'and' as both men and women that engage in it are at risk, unless the testing will only help men or women, which would be ridiculous for them not to know.

They already know it works in men - how do I know? It's in the bl**dy ref!

"Two HIV-positive gay men—Matt Sharp, from Chicago, and Mark Milano, from New York City—have braved anal cancer scares in the last year. Both caught their cancer at an early stage, largely because they’d been screened with anal Pap smears years ago, found to have precancerous lesions, and have been monitored closely ever since."

After reading a quarter of the article, it is in terrible shape. Chaosdruid (talk) 13:39, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

Not that this matters anymore, but this problem with cases vs. types is an unfortunate consequence of ambiguous language used in CDC reports, which make the exact same mistake you mentioned here. I plan on cleaning it up as best I can, at least on Wikipedia. SomeEnlightenedNarcissist (talk) 20:41, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

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The current version of the intro [3] IMO seems to make it out like the sexually transmitted infections are the most common types of HPV infections. For example it says "HPV vaccines can prevent the most common types of infection" but of course the vaccines only target HPVs associated with STIs or not even that, HPVs most associated with increased cancer risks. Another example "HPV is typically spread by sustained direct skin-to-skin contact with vaginal and anal sex being the most common methods."

So is the implication that STI HPVs are the most common really true or is it more that they are generally the more serious infections due to the greater risk of complications and so understandably receive the most attention? Reading the rest of the article, I suspect the later. It sounds to me like most people will be infected by some HPV causing skin warts e.g. 1 or 2 and probably before they are infected by the STI HPVs.

Nil Einne (talk) 12:29, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi, I wonder if I could get a second pair of eyes on the edits a student on the Global Health MSc here at the University of Edinburgh has been made. These edits were made with a view to adding 180-200 words to contribute to the HPV page. I have questions over where this would naturally fit in the article as the lead is already well developed and the Mwaka source cited seems to be primary in nature. Any other feedback would be gratefully received. Best wishes, Stinglehammer (talk) 20:24, 30 January 2019 (UTC)

I will have a look. After a cursory overview, I suspect several of the references will be useful replacements for out-of-date in-article references (e.g. from the CDC). However, the text appears be a summary of the existing article, rather than new information. JDowning (talk) 23:09, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

I replaced the disinfectant section with more up-to-date research. HPV is currently the most disinfection-resistant virus ever studied. See also this study, [4] from a Q1 journal. Because it is so disinfection-resistant, research is also showing non-sexual transmission to be more likely than previously believed. I will be working to update the article with newer studies about viral transmission and methods of disinfection. JDowning (talk) 21:33, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

Okay so disinfection resistant but does it mean that it is spread by objects in the environment. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:18, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

Doc James, I agree that the CDC guideline is clear, but I have strong concerns it is out-of-date, based on the following CDC quote from their most recent hospital disinfection guidance [5], which was published in 2008*: "No data exist on the inactivation of HPV by alcohol or other disinfectants because in vitro replication of complete virions has not been achieved." [emphasis added]

In 2014, six years after the CDC guidance was published, this study [6] on "authentic HPV16 grown in three-dimensional organotypic human epithelial culture" was performed, as discussed in this review: [7].

The study using complete virions found them to be extremely difficult to remove with most disinfectants, and explicitly concluded that "the unusually high resistance of HPV16 to disinfection supports other data suggesting the possibility of fomite or non-sexual transmission of HPV16."

Further research has not disputed the findings of the 2014 paper, not that I can find. I am concerned that the CDC's current HPV disinfection guidance is out-of-date, and may lead to inadequate caution when disinfecting hard surfaces. Thoughts? JDowning (talk) 04:48, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

Footnote: *Per the CDC standard's front page, it was last revised in 2008. At the bottom of the page, there is a 'February 2017' update notice. This was due to a format change of table 12.: "Format Change [February 2017]: The format of this section was changed to improve readability and accessibility. The content is unchanged."

User:JDowning So the text we are discussing is "It does not appear to spread via common items like toilet seats"

The ref from the CDC says "There haven’t been any documented cases of people getting HPV from surfaces in the environment, such as toilet seats." and the page says "Page last reviewed: August 23, 2018"[8]

This paper from 2014 is a primary source.[9]

What part of this review[10] do you feel refutes the CDC? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:04, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I was basing it off of this: "Papillomaviruses are considered a stable fomite (Ferenczy et al., 1989; Roden et al., 1997). Most commonly used environmental surface disinfectants have been shown to be ineffective in reducing infectivity of HPV (Meyers 2014)." My main concern is the description of the virus as a 'stable fomite.' JDowning (talk) 05:09, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

That does not imply that people should worry about catching it from common objects like toilet seats. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:13, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

It is true that the only strong evidence for hazardous HPV fomites is limited to colposcopes and transvaginal ultrasound probes. I have seen transmission in the general environment suggested [11], but only in tier-2 journals.

In my opinion we do not have strong enough evidence to suggest that HPV is spread by common objects. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:33, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

I agree, current phrasing 'does not appear to spread via common items like toilet seats,' is accurate. JDowning (talk) 05:46, 7 February 2019 (UTC)