| "Controversy continues to plague efforts to protect young women against cervical cancer by vaccinating them against HPV, the human papillomavirus, but one leading scientist's discovery could throw a monkey wrench into the debate. " ""We found HPV under the fingernails of young men," said Dr. Laura Koutsky, a University of Washington epidemiologist." "Koutsky led some of the pioneering research and clinical trials that resulted in an HPV vaccine, Merck's Gardasil, recently approved for use in girls and young women. The reason her fingernail finding is a potential bombshell has to do with why the vaccine is controversial. " "HPV, which is the leading cause of most cervical cancers, is primarily a sexually transmitted disease. Opponents of HPV vaccines believe that immunizing girls against this virus sends the message that engaging in sex at a young age is acceptable behavior. " "The presence of HPV under fingernails, she said, at the very least suggests another possible route of transmission. It's an additional route of infection, she said, that could explain some previous apparent anomalies such as HPV infection in infants and young girls who had not yet engaged in sexual activity." "Koutsky's not quite sure what to make of the finding, which has yet to be reported in a journal, but she said it is certainly "a surprise." " ""In spite of (the debate), a considerable amount of the vaccine has been distributed already," said Dr. Lauri Markowitz, an expert on HPV with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who spoke this week at a Seattle meeting of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research. " "More than 40 states have enacted some kind of legislation to encourage wider use of the HPV vaccine, Markowitz said, including a few states, such as Washington, that have avoided the mandated vaccine debate by simply offering the immunizations free." "The CDC, which recommends routine use of the HPV vaccine in females between the ages of 9 and 26, estimates that 25 percent of all women in the U.S. are already infected with the virus. " "Not all HPV strains are equally likely to result in cancer, however. The vaccine protects against four strains that are thought to be more likely to cause cervical cancer. There are hundreds of types of HPV, and most people have been infected by one or another. Most infections have no symptoms and go unrecognized." "More severe forms of HPV can cause genital warts and penile and anal cancers. Non-genital strains can cause head and neck cancers. But the greatest cancer risk from HPV is to women. Cervical
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