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Definition of human papillomavirus
: any of numerous papillomaviruses (as of the genera Alphapapillomavirus, Betapapillomavirus, and Gammapapillomavirus) that cause various human papillomas (such as genital warts and plantar warts) and include some associated with the production of human cancer
—abbreviation HPV
Examples of human papillomavirus in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Vaccinations against diphtheria and pertussis were down 42%, for the human papillomavirus down 73%.
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Anne Saker, Cincinnati.com, "Five lessons from the coronavirus pandemic about your child's immunizations," 16 June 2020 Gardasil, a vaccine against the human papillomavirus, had Phase 3 studies of about 17,500 women.
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Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, "Vaccine experts want the FDA to commit to 30,000 people in Covid-19 vaccine trials," 12 June 2020 That list could include a range of illnesses such as pneumonia, influenza, rubella, the common cold, hepatitis, rotavirus and human papillomavirus.
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NBC News, "Measles virus could wipe out the immune system's 'memory,' new research suggests," 31 Oct. 2019 The vast majority of these cases are associated with the human papillomavirus, but about three-quarters of American adults don't know HPV causes the disease, a recent study, also led by Deshmukh, found.
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NBC News, "What are the symptoms of anal cancer? Disease is on the rise in the U.S.," 19 Nov. 2019 The 80-year-old, who died Dec. 23, was one of three people credited with developing the first vaccine for human papillomavirus — the leading cause of cervical cancer.
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Bailey Loosemore, The Courier-Journal, "A Louisville professor who helped develop the HPV vaccine has died at 80," 3 Jan. 2020 For example, some vaccines for human papillomavirus, or HPV, stop only 70% of the strains of the cancer-causing virus, and a new malaria vaccine being field-tested in Africa is only 39% effective.
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BostonGlobe.com, "Of those who got two doses of the GSK vaccine, only 13 developed active tuberculosis during three years of follow-up, according to the new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. By contrast, 26 of those who got a placebo progressed to active tuberculosis.," 29 Oct. 2019 But now with the advent of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine we are poised to be able to do even more to decrease the incidence of cervical cancer.
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Ian Fields, SELF, "My Mother Died of Cervical Cancer. Now I’m an HPV Vaccine Advocate.," 26 Aug. 2019 Vaccines, which have significantly reduced cases of human papillomavirus, or HPV, and hepatitis B cases, could be an important defense.
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Jason Gale | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "Why Sex-Related Infections Are Spreading Again," 19 July 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'human papillomavirus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for human papillomavirus
The first known use of human papillomavirus was in 1952
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