The human papillomavirus (HPV) is very common, is easily spread by sexual activity, and up to 50% of all people will be infected at some time in their lives. HPV vaccines protect against either two, four or nine types of HPV

Two doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is sufficient to protect preteens and teens against genital warts, new research suggests.

‘Immunogenicity’ results

Investigators at Boston University Medical Center found that two HPV vaccine doses are just as effective as three at preventing genital warts. That’s in keeping with the new recommendations from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study was published online in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

The CDC and World Health Organization based the new two-dose schedule primarily on “immunogenicity” results – the vaccine’s ability to induce an immune response, said study lead author Dr Rebecca Perkins. “But there was very little research on how effective that recommendation has been,” added Perkins, an obstetrician.

“This study validates the new recommendations, and allows us to confidently move forward with the two-dose schedule for the prevention of genital warts,” she said in a medical centre news release.

The HPV vaccine is currently recommended for all boys and girls between the ages of nine and 14. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that can also lead to cervical, vaginal and anal cancers.

Health24 previously reported that HPV can be contracted by skin-to-skin contact during oral, vaginal or anal sex with someone who has HPV. Any sexually active person can acquire HPV.

Focus mainly on genital warts

According to the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA) the Medicines Control Council (MCC) of South Africa approved two HPV vaccines, but these vaccines are only effective when used as a prophylaxis when administered before exposure.

Researchers say that since 2007, as more parents have chosen to vaccinate their kids, the incidence of genital warts has dropped significantly.

The new study assessed the prevalence of warts among nearly 400 000 girls. The researchers looked to see whether they’d been vaccinated against HPV, and if so, how many doses they had had.

Beyond the conclusion that two doses were just as protective as three, the study found that both dose regimens offered much more protection against genital warts than a single dose or no vaccine at all.

The study focuses mainly on genital warts, however, so the findings do not speak to additional HPV-related health concerns, such as cervical dysplasia (a precancerous condition) or cancer.

Read more:

HPV vaccine reduces infection, even in unvaccinated

You don’t have to have sex to catch the virus from your partner

Northern Cape wakes up to HPV vaccination for girls

Most people associate allergies with growing up, and according to Food Standards Agency it is estimated that in the UK 5 to 8% of children, as opposed to only 1 to 2% of adults, have a food allergy. 

Fact is that allergies can happen to anyone at any time, and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology states that food allergies, although most common in children, can appear at any age. 

An allergy is an abnormal sensitivity or reaction of your immune system to a substance (allergen) that you:

The only way to cure an allergy is to outgrow it – and until such time your only option is to avoid any contact with the cause.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data show that younger children are more likely to have skin allergies while older children are more likely to suffer from respiratory allergies.

What about babies?

A Parents article points out that until recently it was believed that babies under two years couldn’t develop allergies because their immune systems were not sufficiently developed.

A baby can however have an allergic reaction to anything they’re constantly exposed to (e.g. dust, mould, pet dander and some foods). Seasonal allergies, on the other hand, tend to manifest later as a baby’s immune system needs at least one season to “learn” to be allergic to things like pollen or grass.

Allergies can strike at any age

Allergies can creep up on you at any age. You can even suddenly develop an allergy to foods you’ve been eating for many years.

The same applies to seasonal allergies like hay fever, and as LiveScience reminds us, our bodies come in contact with new things all the time, and can become highly allergic to these at any time.

In South Africa the change of seasons can be particularly trying, and up to 20% of South Africans suffer from allergic reactions, according to the Allergy Society of South Africa. This includes sneezing, wheezing and itchy eyes.

Research by Northwestern University indicates that the older a patient is when diagnosed with food allergies, the more likely they are to have a severe reaction.

You don’t have to be stuck with allergies

Allergies are unpredictable! Severe childhood allergies can mysteriously disappear, and adults who had an allergy-free childhood can suddenly become allergic to a variety of substances. Doctors and allergists know this, but don’t know why we can grow into and out of allergies. 

According to New York-based allergist Clifford W. Bassett, children can generally grow out of allergies. For many people, however, it is not the case – and some individuals, sometimes in their eighties, are affected for the first time with a variety of allergies.

Read more:

Preventing allergies

Severe allergies register launched

Broccoli may ease allergies

Eugene Lotter

A team from Stellenbosch University (SU) and the Tygerberg Academic Hospital recently performed a second penis transplant, making it the first medical centre in the world to successfully perform this procedure twice.

This comes after the world’s first successful penis transplant was done in December 2014 at the same facility.

Prof André van der Merwe, Head of the Division of Urology at SU’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), led the marathon operation of nine and a half hours performed on 21 April.

The recipient was a 40-year-old male who had lost his penis 17 years ago due to complications after a traditional circumcision. His identity is being protected for ethical reasons.

No rejection

“He is certainly one of the happiest patients we have seen in our ward. He is doing remarkably well,” says Prof Van der Merwe.

“There are no signs of rejection and all the reconnected structures seem to be healing well.”

One of the team members Dr Amir Zarrabi says the first operation prepared them for the second one. “It was experimental, but now it is really scientific,” Zarrabi told Health24. 

The patient is expected to regain all urinary and reproductive functions of the organ within six months of the transplant. A colour discrepancy between the recipient and the donor organ will be corrected with medical tattooing between six to eight months after the operation.

“Unfortunately we could not find a donor of the same race. In this case the donor is white and the recipient is black.” 

Western Cape health minister Dr Nomafrench Mbombo called the procedure ground-breaking.

“This is a remarkable procedure. Traditional circumcision has claimed many young lives in South Africa. For this patient, life will never be the same again,” Dr Mbombo said.

The procedure

The entire penis was carefully dissected from the donor to keep blood vessels, nerves and other connecting structures intact. These were marked and connected to the recipient’s correlating tissue during the transplant.

The surgeons connected:

• Three blood vessels (each between 1 and 2mm in diameter) to ensure sufficient blood flow to the transplanted organ;
• Two dorsal nerves (also between 1 and 2mm in diameter) to restore sensation;
• The urethra, which enables the recipient to urinate through the penis; as well as
• The corpus cavernosum (cavernous body of the penis), which will allow the patient to obtain an erection.

“The diverse presentation of the blood vessels and nerves makes the operation very challenging and means each case is unique,” says one of the team members Dr Alexander Zühlke.

“All these structures need to be treated with the utmost delicacy and respect in order to be connected perfectly to ensure good circulation and function in the long term.

The requirement is that the donor must be brain-dead, but the heart must still be beating. “This is most effective way to make sure there is no rejection,” says Zarrabi. 

Future

Dr Zarrabi is confident that their success will lead to more successful operations in the future. 

“The loss of a penis from traditional circumcision is big, and we want to create sustainable programmes to help these people.”

Read more:

1st US penis transplant could bring hope to maimed soldiers

First US penis transplant recipient released from hospital

Penis transplant – what the real focus should be on

Joshua Carstens

South Africans continue to “supersize”, with two-thirds of women and a third of men being overweight or obese, according to preliminary results from the latest Demographics and Health Survey.

Supersized South Africans

By the age of 20, over half of all women were already overweight and by 45, this figure had rocketed to 82%, according to the survey conducted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Statistics South Africa and the Department of Health.

White men were much fatter than men of other races, with three-quarters being overweight as opposed to slightly over a quarter of African men. With women, the racial differences were not as pronounced, although the majority of severely obese women were Coloured.

The Western Cape is home to the fattest people, and this province also led statistics for hypertension – not surprising as obesity is a major cause of high blood pressure.

“It is time that we wake up to this cold fact and that we need to address the risk factors that contribute to overweight and obesity. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are fast becoming the leading cause of death, now accounting for more than HIV and TB,” said SAMRC’s Professor Andre Kengne. 

Curbed growth

In contrast, over a quarter of children under the age of five showed signs of stunting (stunted growth). Stunting is higher among boys (30%) than girls (25%).

Less than a quarter of babies aged between six as 23 months were being fed the “minimum acceptable diet”.

Smoking and drinking

Smoking was most popular amongst Coloured women and men, with 38% of Coloured women admitting to smoking in comparison to a national average of 7%. Men were far more likely than women to smoke, with a national average of 37% – with almost half of Coloured men reporting being smokers.

However, white women and men were far more likely to have consumed alcohol than any other group in the week before being interviewed – over one third of white women (versus a national average of 10%) and almost 60% of white men (versus a national average of 37%).

Prevalence of HIV

Meanwhile, 45% of women and 55% of men aged between 15 and 49 reported to have had sex with neither their spouse nor someone they were living with in the past 12 months.

“This is particularly dangerous within the context of HIV in South Africa,” says SAMRC’s Burden of Disease Research Unit Director Professor Debbie Bradshaw. “Our survey showed that 32% of men and 40% of women did not use condoms in these incidences, and this does not help to control the epidemic.”

Physical abuse

Some 8% of women interviewed said that they had experienced physical violence from their partner in the past year, with one in five reporting that they had experienced physical intimate partner violence in their lives.

“It is challenging to collect such information and the methodology could possibly understate the true extent of the problem,” says SAMRC’s Gender and Health Research Unit Deputy Director Professor Naeemah Abrahams. “Given the daily media reports of violence against women and children, it is important that we develop national strategic plans that will curb gender based violence.” 

Read more:

Are South Africans gluttons?

South Africans – the fattest of them all

The state of South Africans’ health

Kerry Cullinan

Humans need salt to survive as our bodies require sodium to transmit nerve impulses, contract muscle fibres, and control fluid balance in our cells of the body – together with other electrolytes like potassium.

However, salt is a leading contributor to South Africa’s cardiovascular disease epidemic, which claims more lives each year than all forms of cancer combined.

Here are a ten fascinating facts about salt: