Strains are a major source of confusion, even for some medical doctors and others in the health industry. Some basic questions for this blog: Are there different strains of HPV? (Yes! Many!) What do the strains do? (Depends on which strain.) Can you have more than one strain of HPV at once? (Absolutely.) Which strains are the most common? (High risk types 16 and 18.) Does Gardasil help if it only covers four strains? (Yup, and read on for explanation.)
Let's kick things off with the statements of a commenter going by the screen name Dr Williams, whose full name is probably Dr. Mark Williams, which we know thanks to another genius who replied to him by first name repeatedly. Do you think this is the guy? Anyway, it all began with Dr Williams proudly proclaiming his medical background:
a bizarre tangent about "the cancer causing kind" of warts. Say what? This statement he made regarding the visual diagnosis of "cancer causing" warts versus "the bumpy strand" is something to behold:
It's common knowledge that the strains of HPV that cause genital warts do not cause cancer. This isn't information you have to dig for or have a medical degree to know; it's plastered everywhere. Cancer-causing strains and warts-causing strains are two different things. And you can definitely have more than one strain at a time.
Keep in mind that Dr Williams made these statements after directing everyone else to get as edumacated as he is on the subject of low risk strains by visiting CDC.gov.
I hope people took his advice on that one point and read the CDC website, because on a page labeled "basic information," the CDC comes right out and obliterates his nonsense about "cancer causing" warts in one sentence:
Shortly after this leg of the tantrum-tirade and as part of a list of attempted scapegoats to blame for the consequences of his friend's actions, Dr Williams sniffled about his perceived "ignorance of the jury." Dr Williams went on to seethe that the Muscatine jury wasn't "informed" about cancer-causing warts. Um, the reason the jury wasn't informed of "cancer causing" genital warts is because they don't exist. Both medical experts explained HPV to the jury for hours, and that piece of information the CDC provided above was one of the things covered. Fortunately for those who value the truth, the legal system is a place where medical facts are taken into consideration, not bullshit some blowhard pulled out of his ass to defend his bestest buddy, who showed no regard for innocent people who might have relied on his posts.
It's a good story, but I digress. It'd take a chapter of a book to fully explore the bitter, factually incorrect, facially inconsistent and puerile ravings contained within the comments and e-mail correspondence (oh yes, he sent me e-mails too - another time, perhaps?) from Dr Williams.
Here's a second commenter whose ignorance is worth learning from: rosiejr1. Notice that rosiejr1 also claims to know a thing or two about STIs thanks to her line of work with the CDC, so you had better listen up! Or not.
So let's get down to pointing out the incorrect information that this supposed 'CDC Rep' is carelessly broadcasting to the masses: Does just one strain cause cancer like rosiejr1 said? Um, no. To simplify things to the point of seroius inaccuracy is unacceptable — especially after bragging about how she's in the medical field, so that people will buy what she's saying.
HPV isn't simple, so don't try to make it simple. To give you an idea of how many strains of HPV can cause cancer, the Hybrid Capture II High Risk HPV test looks for 13 different high risk (e.g. cancer-causing) types — 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, and 68. It tests for the most common types, but that's not all of them. For example, there are at least two more well-known high risk types not included in that test: 73 and 82. There's also a test for low risk types, which looks for 5 different strains : 6, 11, 42, 43, and 44. And once again, that's not all. Examples of other low risk types not included in the test are 54, 61, 70, 72, and 81.
The HPV vaccine known as Gardasil protects against four distinct strains: two high risk strains (strains 16 and 18, which together cause 70% of all cervical cancers), and two low risk strains (strains 6 and 11, which together cause 90% of all genital warts). Those four strains cause the vast majority of the most common health problems caused by HPV, which is why it makes sense to get the vaccine. You'd think someone who works as a "CDC Rep" would know that much simply from experience, maybe while talking to people about Gardasil or something in her day-to-day work. But you'd be wrong. Maybe you should be worried, too.
UPDATE: The FDA approved Gardasil to help prevent anal cancer caused by HPV, the vast majority of which is, in fact, caused by HPV.
This is Post #2 in the series, Debunking HPV Myths. For other parts of the series, click here.
Let's kick things off with the statements of a commenter going by the screen name Dr Williams, whose full name is probably Dr. Mark Williams, which we know thanks to another genius who replied to him by first name repeatedly. Do you think this is the guy? Anyway, it all began with Dr Williams proudly proclaiming his medical background:
First of all, let me start by saying I am not afraid to hide behind some screen name. My name is Dr. Williams, M.D.Oh yes, and this is important:
Alan and I have been best friends since we met our freshman year in college.While Dr Williams was discussing whether Dr. Alan Evans had warts, he went off on
a bizarre tangent about "the cancer causing kind" of warts. Say what? This statement he made regarding the visual diagnosis of "cancer causing" warts versus "the bumpy strand" is something to behold:He does not have warts. And even if he did, there is no way by looking at them to tell if they are the cancer causing kind. I guess a future conversation may be.. [sic] "so, do you have warts?", [sic] um [sic] yes." what [sic] genotyps [sic] are they, the cancer causing kind or just the bumpy strand?" ummmm... [sic] I don't know.No, really. Is this a joke, in more ways than one?
It's common knowledge that the strains of HPV that cause genital warts do not cause cancer. This isn't information you have to dig for or have a medical degree to know; it's plastered everywhere. Cancer-causing strains and warts-causing strains are two different things. And you can definitely have more than one strain at a time.
Keep in mind that Dr Williams made these statements after directing everyone else to get as edumacated as he is on the subject of low risk strains by visiting CDC.gov.
I hope people took his advice on that one point and read the CDC website, because on a page labeled "basic information," the CDC comes right out and obliterates his nonsense about "cancer causing" warts in one sentence:
The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types that can cause cancer.
It's a good story, but I digress. It'd take a chapter of a book to fully explore the bitter, factually incorrect, facially inconsistent and puerile ravings contained within the comments and e-mail correspondence (oh yes, he sent me e-mails too - another time, perhaps?) from Dr Williams.
Here's a second commenter whose ignorance is worth learning from: rosiejr1. Notice that rosiejr1 also claims to know a thing or two about STIs thanks to her line of work with the CDC, so you had better listen up! Or not.
I am a CDC Rep at a local health department in TN, which is top ten for ALL STD's. [sic] Obvoiusly [sic] the courts had some medical experts in it, but [. . .] only one strain can cause cervical cancer.Rosie is scary uninformed. HPV is a family of viruses. There are many strains — almost 200 that we know of so far — and like I said, different strains do different things. We're mainly talking about the ones transmitted via intimate contact. There are roughly 40 of those. This group can be divided into two types: high risk and low risk. As discussed before, high risk strains can cause cancer. Low risk strains can cause warts.
So let's get down to pointing out the incorrect information that this supposed 'CDC Rep' is carelessly broadcasting to the masses: Does just one strain cause cancer like rosiejr1 said? Um, no. To simplify things to the point of seroius inaccuracy is unacceptable — especially after bragging about how she's in the medical field, so that people will buy what she's saying.
HPV isn't simple, so don't try to make it simple. To give you an idea of how many strains of HPV can cause cancer, the Hybrid Capture II High Risk HPV test looks for 13 different high risk (e.g. cancer-causing) types — 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, and 68. It tests for the most common types, but that's not all of them. For example, there are at least two more well-known high risk types not included in that test: 73 and 82. There's also a test for low risk types, which looks for 5 different strains : 6, 11, 42, 43, and 44. And once again, that's not all. Examples of other low risk types not included in the test are 54, 61, 70, 72, and 81.
The HPV vaccine known as Gardasil protects against four distinct strains: two high risk strains (strains 16 and 18, which together cause 70% of all cervical cancers), and two low risk strains (strains 6 and 11, which together cause 90% of all genital warts). Those four strains cause the vast majority of the most common health problems caused by HPV, which is why it makes sense to get the vaccine. You'd think someone who works as a "CDC Rep" would know that much simply from experience, maybe while talking to people about Gardasil or something in her day-to-day work. But you'd be wrong. Maybe you should be worried, too.
UPDATE: The FDA approved Gardasil to help prevent anal cancer caused by HPV, the vast majority of which is, in fact, caused by HPV.
This is Post #2 in the series, Debunking HPV Myths. For other parts of the series, click here.
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