Development and Initial Feedback About a Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Comic Book for Adolescents

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary cause of cervical cancer. In addition, on the basis of the fulfillment of a combination of viral as well as epidemiological criteria, it is currently accepted that a proportion of anal, oropharyngeal, vulvar, and vaginal cancers among women and anal, oropharyngeal, and penile cancers among men are etiologically related to HPV. At these noncervical sites with etiologic heterogeneity, HPV-associated cancers represent a distinct clinicopathological entity, which is generally characterized by a younger age at onset, basaloid or warty histopathology, association with sexual behavior, and better prognosis, when compared with their HPV-negative counterparts. Currently available estimates indicate that the number of HPV-associated noncervical cancers diagnosed annually in the US roughly approximates the number of cervical cancers, with an equal number of noncervical cancers among men and women. Furthermore, whereas the incidence of cervical cancers has been decreasing over time, the incidence of anal and oropharyngeal cancers, for which there are no effective or widely used screening programs, has been increasing in the US. The efficacy of HPV vaccines in preventing infection at sites other than the cervix, vagina, and vulva should, therefore, be assessed (eg, oral and anal). Given that a substantial proportion of cervical cancers (approximately 70%) and an even greater proportion of HPV-associated noncervical cancers (approximately 86% to 95%) are caused by HPV16 and 18 (HPV types that are targeted by the currently available vaccines), current HPV vaccines may hold great promise (provided equivalent efficacy at all relevant anatomic sites) in reducing the burden of HPV-associated noncervical cancers, in addition to cervical cancers.

Genital human papillomaviruses (HPV) include >40 sexually transmitted viruses. Most HPV infections do not progress to disease, but infection with certain types of HPV can cause cervical and other anogenital and oropharyngeal cancer, and other types of HPV are associated with anogenital warts. HPV vaccines prevent infection with HPV 16 and 18, which account for 70% of cases of cervical cancer, and HPV 6 and 11, which cause 90% of the cases of anogenital warts. Using data and self-collected cervicovaginal specimens from 4150 females, 14-59 years of age, from consecutive National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2003-2006), we estimated the prevalence of type-specific HPV DNA and examined sociodemographic and sexual determinants. The overall prevalence of HPV was 42.5% in females 14-59 years of age and varied significantly by age, race or ethnicity, and number of sex partners. Individual type prevalence was less than 7%, ranging from <0.5% through 6.5%. The most common type was nononcogenic HPV 62 (found in 6.5% of subjects), followed by HPV 53 and HPV 16 (4.7%), both of which are oncogenic types. The most prevalent species was nononcogenic α3. HPV infection is common among US females, with the highest burden of infection found in young females 20-24 years of age. Monitoring trends in HPV type distribution will contribute to our understanding of the early impact of HPV vaccines.