Last Saturday,"got the shock of my life. Four days ago, I met a childhood friend, who also doubles as my family doctor. We had an extensive discussion, reminiscing over our cagodhoodhildhood days. We talked about many things, our secondary school adventures, old class mates, and so on. Our discussion turned sour when he told me about his secondary school crush, Bims, who recently died of cervical cancer. May her gentle soul rest in peace I muttered.
He further went on to tell me about cervical cancer, a cancer peculiar to females. The cause of cervical cancer is Human Papilloma Virus and how it is transmitted via sex. I had thought condom use protects against all forms of sexually transmitted infections but I was wrong, Human papilloma virus is an exception. This virus also causes genital warts in some cases, he said. He explained the deficiency in our country, that in saner climes, the vaccine is given to school age children especially between the ages 10 and12. Gardasil, the vaccine is more effective in this age group because most are yet to be sexually active. I told him my daughter who is presently age 10 will benefit from this.
We agreed I bring her for the vaccine next weekend.During dinner that day, I decided to raise the discussion. I told my daughter about the cervical cancer vaccine and its benefits on her health. I had wanted to be sure she was still a virgin so I played a fast one on her. I told her being a virgin is a pre-requisite for this vaccine, though this is an erroneous belief by many. That night I got the shocker of my life. I saw the changed reaction on my daughters face. ‘So you are not a virgin!’ I screamed. Immediately, I lost the appetite for food. A bad news it was. I wished it was a joke. At ten!
She confided in her mother that she got deflowered a year ago. I felt like a failed father, I had no clue all along. Where I’ve missed it? This world has turned something else.Get your daughters vaccinated against cervical cancer today. We took her for pap smear test and it was diagnosed she contracted HPV. I'm heartbroken. Why on earth would someone have sex with my daughter? Not just once but almost everyday since she turned 9. I have done all I could for her to tell me the spoiler yet she vehemently refused.
Of all the female cancers, cervical cancer is the only one that offers great potentials for prevention. It takes about 15 to 20 years to develop from precancerous state to cancer.
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women in developing countries. It is the second most common cancer in women worldwide after cancer of the breast with 85% of deaths occurring in developing countries. W.H.O recommends screening of at least once in a life time for women in developing world. Screening test involves Pap smear, visual inspection and HPV testing.
What Is Human Papillomavirus Infection?
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a viral infection that is passed between people through skin-to-skin contact. There are more than 100 varieties of HPV, but most emphasis is given to the 40 varieties that affect the genitals, mouth, or throat, that are passed through sexual contact.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection that affects both men and women. It’s so common that most sexually active people will get some variety of it at some point, even if they have few sexual partners.
What Causes Human Papillomavirus Infection?
Most people get HPV through direct sexual contact or oral sex. Since HPV is a skin-to-skin infection, intercourse isn’t required to contract the infection. In rare cases, an infected mother can infect her baby during delivery.
Signs and Symptoms of Human Papillomavirus Infection
most HPV infections go away on their own without any sign or symptom. This means that infected people may have unknomost HPV infections go away on their own without any sign or symptom. This means that infected people may have unknowingly passed HPV to sexual partners.
For a minority of cases, the virus doesn’t go away and can cause serious health problems. These include genital warts and warts in the throat (known as recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP). HPV also cause by cancer and other cancers of the genitals, head, neck, and throat.
The types of HPV that cause warts are different from the types that cause cancer. As such, having genital warts caused by HPV does not mean that you will develop cancer.
Cancers caused by HPV often don’t show symptoms until the cancer is in later stages of growth. Regular screenings can help diagnose HPV-related health problems earlier.
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Women have their first Pap test (Pap smear) at age 21 and then start getting the HPV test at the same time they get a Pap test, beginnig t age 30. Regular Pap tests help to identify abnormal cells in women. These can signal cervical caHPV-related problems. Women ages 30 to 65 should then be screened every five years with Pap and HPV co-testing. If yWder the age of 30, your doctor or gynecologist may also request an HPV test if your Pap smear results are abnormal.
Now, Would you blame the father, mother or the society for the loss of his daughter's virginity?
