5 Essential HPV Facts

The acronym ‘HPV’ is increasingly known and used. HPV, the Human Papillomavirus, is most commonly known as the virus that causes warts and while effective HPV treatments exist, it is incredibly important to understand more about the HPV virus, its causes and symptoms.

Here we offer you five key facts to help people to be more aware of HPV and understand its impacts for humans.

Fact #1: There are many different types of HPV

HPV infects the skin and mucous membranes and some types cause warts (or verrucae). Some types of HPV are sexually transmitted and cause genital warts (these are generally terms low risk), while others can cause cervical cancer (and are therefore considered high risk).

Not all types of HPV present warts as a symptom. Nearly 200 types of HPV are known and the majority of these produce absolutely no symptoms in most people. Click Here To Read More

Can I Get HPV if I Don’t Have Intercourse?

There are over 200 different types of HPV virus, and of these about 40 are of the types that are sexually transmitted. Like most other sexually-transmitted diseases, HPV can be transmitted through any sexual contact, including contact with no actual intercourse.

Any person, male or female, gay or straight, who is sexually active can acquire the HPV virus from a partner. Also, any individual who has ever been sexually active in the past can develop HPV-related health conditions such as cancers. These often develop years after the initial infection! And meanwhile, you may not even know that you have been infected.
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Can Gays Get HPV?

Only about 40 of the more than 250 types of HPV virus are sexually-transmitted. Anyone can acquire any of the 250, including sexually active people of any gender or sexual preference. In recent years it has come to the attention of the medical community that gay and bisexual men are at greater risk of HPV-related cancers than are other men.

HPV is transmitted during sexual contact, as is any other sexually-transmitted disease. This contact includes not only heterosexual intercourse, but also oral sexual contact and anal sex. In order to understand how easily one can be infected with the virus, it is useful to know specifically how it is passed. HPV, whether of a genital type or not, is always passed from skin to skin, or from surface to skin. Some strains of the virus can survive for days on surfaces that are dry and cool.
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The Many Faces of HPV

Imagine a virus that has over 250 types or strains, and you have the HPV virus! These 250 all have in common the element of a wart – an interruption in the growth of skin cells, where the cells cluster and grow out of control. But that is the only element that ties together all these strains. They are different in the ways in which they present themselves physically, the time in which it takes them to grow, and the seriousness of their consequences to human health. There is no cure for HPV virus regardless of strain; there is only help for the symptoms, and treatment for secondary diseases which result from HPV infection.
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Why Should I Worry About HPV?

Although about 50% of adults have some form of the HPV virus sometime in their lives, most never know it. There are over 250 strains of the virus, and most of these do not cause any health problems, or cause only short-term issues, and do away on their own within a few years.

But the strains of HPV that do cause long-term health issues can be serious, and you do need to be informed about these in order to best protect yourself from certain forms of cancers and even infertility.
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HPV: 4 Ways to Avoid Getting it

There are over 250 strains or types of HPV virus that have been identified to date. Of these, most are benign and harmless. Although they can’t be cured, the symptoms they produce can be treated successfully, and most of these virus strains clear themselves up within a few years. Still, anyone would want to avoid things like common warts that result from HPV infection.

A few other, less common strains of HPV hang around in the body for years, weakening the immune system and causing mutations in healthy cells that may lead to cancer. Because these types have no symptoms, it is important to think about ways to protect yourself against becoming infected with any type of HPV virus.
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HPV Virus: 6 Reasons You May be at Risk!

Several factors put you as an individual at greater risk of becoming infected with the HPV virus:

• Lack of education The less you know and understand about the HPV virus and the various ways in which it can be transmitted, the more at risk you are. It is most important to be aware that there are over 250 types (strains) of the virus, and although these strains are all from the same family (human papillomavirus) they do not all behave in the same fashion, nor do they cause the same symptoms or carry the same degree of risk. A little education helps you know the ways in which to protect yourself from all strains of the virus, and especially from those that are most dangerous.

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The HPV Vaccine: Why Should You Get it?

In recent years, the medical community has developed vaccines that are helped to prevent HPV infection in some cases. As is true with any vaccine, these are not 100% effective, however they have been shown to be effective the majority of the time.

Specifically, there are currently two vaccines on the market for protection against HPV, and more are under development. There are over 250 different strains of HPV virus that have been identified to date; these vaccines protect against particular strains that are associated with certain conditions.
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How Can I Get an HPV Test?

Although the HPV virus is a very common one in the human population, we really have no specific test – such as a blood test – to detect it in the general population. For women who are at risk for cervical cancer, there is a test called the “digene HPV test” that is usually done at the same time as a pap smear. This test can detect the presence on the cervix of the strains of HPV virus that are thought to be most likely to cause cervical cancer. This test is used for women over 30 at risk, and for women under 30 who have already been shown with a pap test to have abnormal cervical cells that may be indicative of a problem.

It is currently believed that there are over 250 strains or types of the HPV virus, and symptoms vary greatly amongst these strains. So unless you have specific symptoms, there is really no way to know whether or not you carry the virus. That is why it is important to educate yourself about it and take care of your health accordingly.
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How Can HPV be Transmitted?

Over fifty percent of the population is likely walking around with some sort of HPV virus. Depending upon the strain, the virus can be transmitted from person to person in a number of ways.

The most benign strains, those which cause various forms of warts on hands, feet, elbows and knees, can be transmitted fairly easily. This can happen when someone with the warts on their hands uses a doorknob, and someone else comes along and uses it as well. Or, it can happen when someone with “plantar warts”- those on the bottom of the feet – is walking around in a locker room unwittingly leaving traces of the virus on the floor; others can pick up the virus on their own feet by walking in the same place.
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