HPV vaccine

A vaccine that trains the immune system to prevent infection by selected human papillomavirus types, including types associated with cancers and genital warts.

Human papillomavirus: A group of viruses that infect skin and mucous membranes; some types cause cancers or genital warts. The vaccine targets selected types within this diverse virus group.
Cervical cancer: Cancer that begins in the cervix, most often following persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus. Preventing high-risk HPV infection can avert most cervical cancers.
Gardasil 9: A nine-valent HPV vaccine that protects against seven cancer-associated types and two types that cause genital warts. It is the broadest HPV vaccine in routine use in many countries.
Ian Frazer: An immunologist who helped develop technology underlying the first HPV vaccine. His research with Jian Zhou enabled production of HPV virus-like particles.
Virus-like particle: A protein shell that resembles a virus but contains no viral genetic material. HPV vaccines use these noninfectious shells to display viral surface proteins.
Oropharyngeal cancer: Cancer of the middle throat, including the tonsils and base of the tongue; some cases are caused by HPV. HPV vaccination also targets types responsible for many HPV-associated throat cancers.
Quadrivalent HPV vaccine: An HPV vaccine targeting types 6, 11, 16, and 18. It protects against fewer cancer-associated types than the nine-valent vaccine.
Jian Zhou: A virologist whose work with Ian Frazer produced virus-like particles that enabled HPV vaccine development. Their particle-based approach made a noninfectious vaccine against HPV feasible.
Neutralizing antibody: An antibody that blocks a pathogen from entering or infecting cells. Vaccination induces antibodies that can stop targeted HPV types from establishing infection.
Genital warts: Growths on or around the genitals or anus, usually caused by low-risk human papillomavirus types. Some HPV vaccines protect against the types that cause most genital warts.

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