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HPV

HPV

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus that infects the skin or mucous membranes. There are almost 200 known types of HPV, and most don’t cause any symptoms in people. Some types of HPV can cause warts and some can, in rare cases, cause cancer. In women, HPV can lead to cancers of the cervix, vulva, vagina and anus. In men, HPV can lead to anus and penis cancer. HPV can also cause cancers of the throat, tongue and tonsils.

About HPV

Typically, HPV is transmitted through sexual contact, and infects the anogenital region. Some strains of the virus may cause genital warts, and may progress in to precancerous lesions.

HPV infection is responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer, but most cases do not result in disease. Most HPV infections in younger females turn out to be temporary and don’t really have any long term significance. Seventy percent of the time, the infections are completely gone in a year, and 90 percent in two years.

On those rare occasions when the infection persists, maybe 10 percent of the time, the risk of developing precancerous lesions, which can progress to cancer over the course of 15 – 20 years, increases. Thankfully, the progression to cancer can usually be stopped with standard prevention measures like Pap smears for detection and cryotherapy to prevent abnormal cells from progressing into cancer.

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HPV