Human Papillomavirus: Tracing the HPV Origin

Ever wondered where did HPV originate? Have you ever been left amazed by the scientific study on HPV infection and everything that led to it? And what about the consequences of HPV virus discovery?

The origins of the HPV virus were a vital breakthrough in the history of medical science. It happened in the 1980s with the discovery and determination of the high-risk HPV strain (HPV-16).

HPV origin study is still considered a marvel of modern medical science. This article helps us understand and trace the origins of the most common STD, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

Discovery of HPV Infection

When the first cases of HPV infection were discovered in the early 1980s, it caused a huge stir and uproar among the masses. This is because the discovery originated from the detection of cervical cancer. And experts found out that cervical cancer was a result of the HPV-16 virus type.

The scientific community was shell-shocked as they couldn’t believe that a virus could cause cancer. The breakthrough study of the HPV origin theories was a Nobel-prize-winning achievement by Dr Zur Hausen and his team. They were able to isolate and study HPV-DNA while conducting a series of cervical cancer biopsies.

And that’s the beginning of the HPV virus in the year 1983, which further led to some of the ground-breaking innovations in healthcare and medical science itself. The virus type was in the tumorigenic format.

Consequences and Aftereffects of HPV Discovery

It was a hard journey for the research experts and HPV idea propagators as their theories took another 10 years after the initial discovery to take full effect within the medical community. The primary reported complications after the acceptance of the HPV studies were cervical cancer, genital warts and cancers occurring in the genital regions.

Further studies on HPV strains led to the development and use of HPV vaccines like Gardasil, Gardasil 9 and Cervarix. Vaccine studies and research reports over the years were helmed by the University of Queensland, the University of Rochester, the U.S. National Cancer Institute and Georgetown University Medical Center.

With the identification of 6,00,000 to 7,00,000 cervical cancer cases in a year and with the rapid rise in annual rates, the discovery of HPV infections is a blessing to everyone. The fact is that the establishment of the connection between cervical cancer and HPV infection is going to stay an excellent case study and reference source for numerous future advances and potential medical innovations (especially in the field of cancer research).

Conclusion

Though the HPV origin discovery was a controversial one, HPV and its related studies later became the founding stones and building blocks in treating and overcoming different infection symptoms and critical cancers, including cervical cancer.

It even led to the formulation of herbal remedies (HPV-Basant, for example) in treating HPV infection and related symptoms.