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5 Things You Must Know About Human Papillomavirus

1. Odds are You will Get HPV in your Lifetime

The Human Papillomavirus is estimated to be the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Between 75% to 85% of sexually active Americans will contract HPV at some part in their life according to the American Social Health Association. And it is believed that around 20 million Americans are presently infected with the virus, with with about 6 million new HPV cases being detected each year.

2. You may contracted HPV and not know it

A lot of individuals who contract HPR are unaware of it due to the fact that the virus often produces no symptoms. Some people may develop warts in their genital area or their throat, which is really rare. The warts can appear weeks or months after infection and come in a variety of sizes and shapes. But even if you do not develop warts, you can still transfer the Human Papillomavirus to another individual. Unfortunately, there is no general examination that can detect if you have HPV. However, genital warts can be visualized and diagnosed by a health care individual. Routine pap smears can also detect abnormal cervical cells and consequently high risk HPV. Women who develop cervical cell abnormalities will require constant monitoring and further intervention such as colposcopy.

3. HPV can lead to cancer

Some strains of HPV can lead to abnormal changes in your cells, raising the risk of these cells becoming cancerous. However in most parts, these strains of HPV differ from the strains that result to genital warts. The most common type of cancer to deduce from HPV is cervical cancer. Undergoing regular pap tests can assure the detection of any cell abnormalities resulted from HPV, allowing for treatment before invasive cervical cancer takes place. In very rare cases, HPV can cause cancer to develop in the vagina, vulva, anus, penis, neck and head. These less common types of cancer need a full biopsy for detection.

4. There isn't any cure for HPV

There is no available treatment or cure for HPV, although in many cases the body's immune system will clear it out after some period of time. The genital warts deriving from HPV can be healed by medication but will usually clear out on their own.

High risk types of HPV that are known to cause cervical cancer can be managed and detected through constant Pap smears in women.

5. Using a Condom will not protect you from HPV

Condoms cannot provide complete protection against HPV. This is because unprotected areas such as the scrotum and anus can still transmit the virus. However, there now two vaccines that offer protection against some strains of HPV. Gardasil protects women and men against most of the strains that cause genital warts while Cervarix protects women against some of the strains of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer. Both of these vaccines must be administered before an individual reaches the age of 26 years old. Ultimately, the best protection against HPV is to limit one's number of sexual partners or select partners who have had few or no prior sexual partners.