HPV Virus
The full name of the HPV virus is Human Papillomavirus
and is one of the family of papillomaviruses, which
is able to infect humans. Like the other viruses in
this family, HPV only affects the upper layers of the
skin or membranes in the body.
There have been between
almost 200 strains of HPV identified but the majority
of these create no symptoms for the vast majority of
people infected. HPV is estimated to be the most common
sexually-transmitted disease in the United States, with
nearly 80% of all sexually-active people contracting
the infection at some time of their life.
HPV is capable of going away on its own accord and
in most cases it does, especially in young women. The
body's immune system deals with the virus in the same
way it deals with other foreign entities that try to
attack the body. People with weak or compromised immune
systems may not be able to get rid of the virus as effectively
as those with a strong immune system. There are strategies
and lifestyle changes that can help you strengthen your
immune system for greater protection from HPV. As we have said, many strains of HPV cause no symptoms
while other strains cause symptoms of HPV only in some
of the people affected. The most recognizable and most
common symptom is warts. This symptom of HPV includes
the common warts that appear on the hands, mainly in
children; plantar warts that appear on the feet, grow
inwards and cause pain when standing or walking; flat
warts that occur on the face and neck.
Very rare cases
of warts growing in the respiratory tract have been
reported, which cause difficulty breathing. Common warts
are not as highly infectious as most people think but
they can be easily spread through touching the wart
or an object that has just come into contact with a
wart. Basic hygiene such as regular hand washing, covering
warts and careful disposal of these coverings helps
to prevent the spread of common warts.
Most people connect warts in the genital area with
HPV. These can affect both men and women and may occur
on the vulva, vagina, cervix or anus in women and the
penis or anus in men. Warts that occur in the mouth,
on the thighs or groin area are also referred to as
genital warts.
Genital HPV has the greatest implications
of all the HPV strains. There are two strains of HPV
that are linked to cervical cancer in women; these two
strains have no symptoms other than cell abnormality
which can only be identified under microscopic examination.
This is one of the reasons why women are encouraged
to have a regular Pap test; early pre-cancerous cervical
abnormalities can be picked up with this important test.
Doctors often advise their gay male patients to also
have regular anal Pap tests for the same reason. Cervical
cancer appears to be more prevalent in women who have
persistent HPV infections, over many years, whether
they have symptoms or not.
The spread of HPV occurs during any sexual contact,
whether intercourse takes place or not. An infected
person, who has, or has not, symptoms, can pass the
infection on to any sexual partner. Because visible
symptoms can take months or even years to develop, a
person infected with HPV can infect anyone they have
sexual encounters with. Young people, starting out on
their sexual journey, are usually unaware that HPV can
be spread by contact with the genitals, even if no intercourse
took place.
Education is the key to the control of HPV; people
need to be aware of the risks of having multiple sexual
partners, that any sexual contact with a HPV infected
person can spread the virus, that condoms only help
to prevent the spread of HPV but are not fool-proof,
that visible symptoms can take time to develop and so
you may not know immediately that you have been infected. |
