TY - JOUR AU - Gerald Julian, OMS II, AU - David Go, OMS II, AU - Jay H. Shubrook, DO, FACOFP, PY - 2019/11/10 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Preventing Cancer with Two Injections, A Clinical Review of the HPV Vaccination JF - Osteopathic Family Physician JA - OFP VL - 11 IS - 6 SE - Review Articles DO - 10.33181/11063 UR - https://ofpjournal.com/index.php/ofp/article/view/639 SP - 24-29 AB - <p>Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has become a major public health concern in the United States. HPV has high subclinical infection rates and is a major cause of preventable cancers (cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile, and oropharyngeal).<sup>1,2</sup> Despite availability of an effective vaccine against several common and carcinogenic strains of HPV, it remains the most common STI.<sup>2</sup> Gardasil 9 is a widely available vaccine that protects against nine strains of HPV. Seven of those strains are known to cause a wide range of cancer, and the other two strains are the most common cause of condylomas (genital warts).<sup>3</sup> Yet, patients are not completing this vaccination series. There are a constellation of reasons for this, including failure of the provider to offer it to patients and patient refusal.<sup>4</sup> Either way this easy public health intervention is significantly underutilized. This review explores the infection process of HPV; its link to cancer; a comparison of vaccines offered in the past, such as Cervarix and Gardasil 4, compared to the currently offered Gardasil 9; and finally, an exploration of the beliefs and views around vaccination of the STI and cancer by looking at patient/physician stances against the vaccine tied with the ways to help patient compliance.</p> ER -