Human Papillomavirus

HPV is the human papillomavirus, and it is a group of viruses that includes more than 100 types. More than 40 types of of HPV can be passed through sexual contact. At least 30 strains are known to cause different types of cancer.

HPV research scientists have separated HPV types into those that are more likely to develop into cancer and those that are less likely to develop into cancer.

Up to 70 percent of cervical cancer is caused by HPV-16 and HPV-18.

HPV is a viral infection spread through skin to skin contact causing irregular cell growth or warts. It mainly infects the genital area; including the vulva, vagina, cervix, rectum, anus, penis or scrotum. The low risk HPV infections can cause genital warts. The high risk HPV virus can lead to cervical cancer and other less common cancers in both men and women. The HPV strains responsible for causing genital warts do not cause cancer, and vice versa.

Genital HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States. It is estimated that about 75%- 90% of all people who are sexually active are likely to get the HPV virus at some point in their lives. There is at this time no way to guarantee that your partner is not infected. Signs and symptoms may take weeks, months, and even years to appear. Sometimes symptoms may never appear.

HPV is a little bit different than other sexually transmitted diseases.

Genital HPV infections are very common, affecting up to 80 percent of women by the age of 50.

HPV is not a disease. Most infections are either suppressed by the immune system or go away on their own.

There is no treatment for HPV itself, only for abnormal cells that may form.

There is currently no HPV test for men, and it is impossible to know where you got the infection or who infected you. There is no way to trace the partner that was infected.

Because most genital HPV infections do not have symptoms and so many people are already infected, HPV infection is very hard to prevent.

HPV AWARENESS MIXED RESULTS

HPV awareness has produced mixed results in slowing the infection rate. There are many HPV health safety concerns and very few ways of addressing them. Even though the HPV virus is epidemic in sexually active people, there are very few ways to protect against it.

Preliminary findings show that:

There is no treatment for the virus itself. There is treatment for genital warts, because many times they don’t go away on there own. A mother with genital warts can pass the infection to her infant during birth. Genital warts can get larger during pregnancy. Some treatments for genital warts can harm the baby in the womb.

Healthcare providers have many means to remove them. There are many people that need more than one method. However, even after treatment, warts can return. At this time there are no “over-the-counter” treatments.

A very rare condition is when warts form in the throat called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis or RRP.

HPV related cancers include cervical cancer, and the less common of the vulva, vagina, penis, anus, and head and neck (tongue, tonsils and throat.)

HPV awareness has produced mixed results. Even though the HPV virus is epidemic in sexually active people, there are very few assurances that it can be avoided. Abstaining is not a realistic option for much of the population.

THE FUTURE

HPV is now indicated in a serious type of cancer, scientists are working on ways to diagnose HPV. For now, the medical community is putting recourses into educating the public.

Each newly acquired infection has the potential to persist as an incurable life long infection. It posts a significant risk of a developing cancer that will not show for decades.

Recent estimates of the yearly cost for treating HPV and its related diseases including cervical cancer, exceed $4.5 billion, more that the cost of any single sexually transmitted infection with the only exception being HIV.

The prevalence of symptomatic genital warts caused by HPV infection has skyrocketed in the last two decades. Cervical cancer is now the first or second most common cause of mortality.

It is estimated that as many as two thirds of people who have sexual contact with someone who has genital warts may develop them. The studies vary and some suggest that many of the people who contract an HPV infection will not develop lesions.

The future is complicated; the magnitude of the risk is just beginning to be recognized. Cancer of the cervix may be a sexually transmitted disease. HPV infection is now recognized as the principal etiologic agent in the development of cervical dyspasia, and cervical cancer.

The development of cervical cancer is the result of or complication of sexually transmitted HPV infection. The link is greater than between smoking and lung cancer. Smoking increases susceptibility to both HPV infection and the development of cervical cancer. Oral contraceptives may increase susceptibility to HPV infection and the development of invasive cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is a pandemic, and with the rapidly escalating transmission of HPV it is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.

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