I should preface this by saying I give 2% of my take home pay to the American Foundation for AIDS Research each pay check. Mostly because I think it's a global epidemic. So I'm not trying to minimize HIV at all posting this. However, I'm not sure about you, but I know I couldn't have told you what HPV stands for until I stumbled across these statistics while looking for the numbers on HIV:
How common is HPV infection?
It is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world, with probably more cases of genital HPV infection than of any other STD in the United States. About 50% to 75% of sexually active men and women contract genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. About 5.5 million Americans get a new HPV infection each year, making HPV the most commonly acquired STD. For more information, visit the CDC's Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
Compare that to the number of cases of HIV reported each year:
Diagnoses of HIV/AIDS increased 3.2% from 2001 (25,643) through 2002 (26,464)....In the United States, at the end of 2002, the AIDS prevalence rate among adults was 160.5 per 100,000. The rate ranged from 2.2 per 100,000 (Pacific Islands) to 1,685.8 per 100,000 (District of Columbia).
Now, 50% to 75% of all sexually active people has to be a pretty close to 50,000 out of 100,000, which is a hell of a lot people! Is it just me, or isn't 5.5 million TWO HUNDRED TIMES more than 25,000, too? Really? Granted, things are TEN times worse with HIV in the District of Columbia, and almost as bad within the African American community nationwide. More on that subject later, but overall, you're still a whole lot more likely to get HPV than you are to get HIV. So why haven't you heard of HPV? Well, here's some basic information:
Also known as: Genital warts, venereal warts
Formally known as: Genital Human Papillomavirus
Related tests: Pap smear1. How is HPV transmitted?
Genital HPV infection is spread through sexual contact—primarily vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse. It is possible, though less likely, for the virus to be transmitted by sexual contact without intercourse. Rarely, a pregnant woman will pass HPV to her baby during vaginal delivery, resulting in laryngeal papillomatosis (warts on the voice box).2. What are the symptoms of HPV infection?
Certain types of HPV cause genital warts and other lesions, but the virus usually causes no symptoms. Most people with a genital HPV infection do not know they are infected. That is why regular exams and Pap smears are so important.
Clearly, genital warts are not as bad as HIV, which will kill you. However, it is obviously not something anyone wants to have, it can lead to cervical cancer for women, and there is no way to be sure you will not infect anyone that you have sex with for the rest of your life if you get it. Sounds pretty serious to me.
Yet, by focusing on HIV, which is only spread through blood or mucous membrance to blood or mucous membrane contact, the focus in sex education classes has been on avoiding that kind of contact. People are scared to death of HIV. Yet most people don't know how likely it is they will get HPV. Think of all the people you know who are sexually active. Now pick out 50% to 75%.
This is just an unreal number, and it seems to me that it is directly related to the complete lack of awareness about how widespread this disease is, and the fact that it can be spread though oral sex or even external skin to skin contact. It seems like we are putting all of our efforts into warning people about AIDS, but in the process giving them a false sense of security about other diseases that can be transmitted skin to skin. At the same time, you have sex "experts" giving out advice like this:
interfemoral intercourse.....safe?
Posted: Apr 29, 2003Is sliding your penis with lubrication between someones upper thighs while they are on their stomach a safe activity? What about between their buttox?
Hello,
Yep, that qualifies as safe and a lot of fun, too! Same holds true for buttocks, so long as you dont get carried away and your "outercourse" becomes intercourse. Actually, the technical term for the activity you describe is frottage. Sounds French, doesnt it? I like "outercourse" as a descriptive term as well. Stay safe; have fun.
Dr. Bob
Robert J. Frascino, M.D. Stanford University Medical Center
The method I'm familiar with is where the woman squeezes her legs together and you go down between them and part of the way behind her, from the front. I think people who have either interfemoral or oral sex are at risk for HPV. Yet, all the education about HIV indirectly encourages these practices as a "safe" alternative, where you don't need to use a condom. So much for that idea!
Posted by Mike at March 21, 2004 07:10 AM | TrackBack