College campuses can be a breeding ground for Sexually Transmitted Infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV is the most commonly contracted STI on college campuses and the most common STI worldwide. However, HPV often presents little to no symptoms until it causes more serious diseases and complications.
Amy Wongsarnpigoon, a Nurse Practitioner at the Student Health Services at NC State, recently won the 2014 Bernard A. Kershner Innovations in Quality Improvement Award through the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. The award recognizes both her research on HPV vaccine consultation in college-aged males, as well as the improvements demonstrated at the NC State Student Health Services.
After observing a chart study of 100 males that had recently gone to Student Health Services for physicals and STI testing, Wongsarnpigoon saw that only 9 percent were given an HPV vaccine recommendation, and only 26 HPV vaccines were given during that time frame.
“A lot of males we see don’t have the HPV vaccine prior to college,” Wongsarnpigoon said. “Some don’t know what HPV vaccines are or what HPV is. The vaccine is definitely more advertised for females.”
Vaccines such as Gardasil and Cervarix protect against HPV, but they are given to women far more frequently than men. Because HPV can lead to cervical cancers and genital warts in women, it is expected for women to receive an easy preventative measure such as a vaccine for it. However, the risks of complications related to HPV in men are similar.
“A lot of males don’t know this but HPV can lead to genital warts, penile cancers, anal cancers, and throat cancers,” Wongsarnpigoon said, “Many males will say that they thought HPV is just for females, but that isn’t true.”
Though only found in women, a pap smear can usually reveal an HPV infection. Yet for males there is no physical way to test for the HPV virus. Only the symptoms of HPV including genital warts and cancers can indicate the presence of the virus.
According to Wongsarnpigoon, it is still important to get the vaccine even if you do have the virus.
“We tell them it’s still good to get the HPV vaccine,” Wongsarnpigoon said, “It may not be as effective, but it can prevent other strains of HPV.”
The symptoms of HPV can be treated by antiviral creams and liquid nitrogen to eliminate warts, but there is no cure for the disease. However, it is possible for the body to get rid of the virus over time.
Because the rate of recommendations was not at optimal levels for college-aged males at NC State’s Student Health Services, Wongsarnpigoon and her colleagues decided to set up an intervention in order to increase recommendations and administer HPV vaccines.
In the electronic medical record system used at NC State, Student Health Services added a template for HPV recommendations and vaccine administration. Also, Physicians were asked to recommend the vaccine during physicals, STI testing, and any other appropriate encounters.
“I try to convince them to get the vaccine that day because if they leave the office, they’re going to be bothered by studying and tests, and they’re going to forget about it,” Wongsarnpigoon said. “Sometimes I’ll even tell students about Michael Douglas when they were saying he had throat cancer caused by HPV.”
Additionally, Wongsarnpigoon also wanted to provide more information about the disease and its effects and the effects of the vaccine itself. As a result, Student Health Services put together a small handout to give males the information they need on both the virus and the vaccine.
According to Wongsarnpigoon, the intervention has been relatively successful. Just a few months after it was instated, 64.7 percent of males were given the recommendation and about 41 vaccines were given. The HPV vaccine is also now in the recommended vaccinations list for incoming college students to NC State.
STIs are a very real problem for college campuses around the United States. In some reports, one out of five college students are reported to have genital herpes. Because of the commonness of STIs, Wongsarnpigoon believes it is important for college students to always practice safe sex, get tested regularly, and get the HPV vaccination.
