How HPV is transmitted
It’s estimated that nine in ten people will contract HPV at some point in your life. Don’t worry, though. Most HPV strains are pretty harmless. Most HPV strains either result in warts, or no visible symptoms or health complications at all. The forms that do result in warts never really lead to anything more, and all of these forms will take care of themselves over time as long as you eat well, exercise and keep your immune system strong.
But the question is, how is everybody catching HPV? 90% of people don’t contract cancer or HIV, so why HPV? It’s a little like the common cold, chicken pox, or Pac-Man Fever; almost all of us catch it at one point or another.
Warts are actually surprisingly easy to transmit. You don’t ever even have to meet a person with warts to contract their HPV. Again, warts are no big deal, they’re just gross. They’re only a problem when over the counter medicine doesn’t seem to do anything, or they’re recurring, in which case, professional aide can help solve the problem. But, you won’t get cancer or anything like that thanks to warts. Even genital warts are not a cancer risk.
Common warts and plantar warts can be transmitted thanks to something as simple as sharing a doorknob or a public shower. The fear of contracting HIV or something through a toilet seat or an eating utensil is all bunk, but HPV can be transmitted that easily. This is thanks to the protein shell each HPV cell is equipped with. This shell allows them to survive for much longer than most viruses on even non-porous, dry surfaces. You can combat this by just practicing sanitary measures. Wash your hands regularly, keep your home and place of work clean, you know the drill. Wear those rubber slippers if you use a gym with public showers, etcetera.
Sexually transmitted forms of HPV, well, as you should know, are transmitted sexually. Anybody could tell you that. What you might not know, is that even with a condom, there is a chance of contracting genital warts. Genital warts can infect the scrotum and various areas around the genitals that are not protected by a latex condom. Skin to skin contact is all it takes to transmit genital HPV.
Again, most forms of genital HPV do not lead to cancer or any other complications, many forms of genital HPV don’t even always lead to genital warts. It’s estimated that some 50% of the population in the US has contracted genital HPV at some time or another. Since an HPV infection can even lay dormant and not show warts for years, or ever, for that matter, the only way to know for sure is to have medical testing conducted.