What is HPV?
75% of adults had or will have transmitted HPV at some point in their lifetimes. Also, 75% of women have never even heard of HPV, so what is it?
The human papilloma virus, also called HPV, is a common virus that infects the skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 100 types of HPV.
HPV can be divided into two major types: oncogenic types, which do cause cancer, and nononcogenic types, which do not. Oncogenic types are labeled as either "intermediate" or "high risk", while nononcogenic types are "low risk" for causing cancer.
-The subtypes of HPV are determined by what type of skin they infect. The two types of skin are cutaneous skin (mostly dry, occasionally hairy skin that covers most of the body) and mucosal skin (wet skin, such as the mouth, vagina, and anus). As HPV affects only the skin, it will not show up in blood work, nor can it be spread by receiving blood.
Each of the types of HPV has its own particular area of infection on the human body. For example, the most common HPV types are HPV 1, 2, and 4 and cause palmar and plantar warts (on the hands and feet, respectively). These types do not like to live on the skin of the genital area, thus they will rarely, if ever, cross-over.
The types of HPV that cause common warts, such as those found on the hands and feet, are spread through skin-to-skin contact. It is also possible to get these common types of warts after sharing towels or other objects with a person who has warts.
Only 30 out of the 100 types of HPV are spread through direct genital contact. These "genital" types of HPV are either:
1) "high-risk" – which means they can cause certain kinds of cancer (most commonly, cervical cancer) if the infection persists, or
2) "low-risk" – which means they are not associated with cancer, but can cause genital warts. Unless you develop one of these problems, the only way to know whether you have HPV is by being tested.
The human papilloma virus, also called HPV, is a common virus that infects the skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 100 types of HPV.
HPV can be divided into two major types: oncogenic types, which do cause cancer, and nononcogenic types, which do not. Oncogenic types are labeled as either "intermediate" or "high risk", while nononcogenic types are "low risk" for causing cancer.
-The subtypes of HPV are determined by what type of skin they infect. The two types of skin are cutaneous skin (mostly dry, occasionally hairy skin that covers most of the body) and mucosal skin (wet skin, such as the mouth, vagina, and anus). As HPV affects only the skin, it will not show up in blood work, nor can it be spread by receiving blood.
Each of the types of HPV has its own particular area of infection on the human body. For example, the most common HPV types are HPV 1, 2, and 4 and cause palmar and plantar warts (on the hands and feet, respectively). These types do not like to live on the skin of the genital area, thus they will rarely, if ever, cross-over.
The types of HPV that cause common warts, such as those found on the hands and feet, are spread through skin-to-skin contact. It is also possible to get these common types of warts after sharing towels or other objects with a person who has warts.
Only 30 out of the 100 types of HPV are spread through direct genital contact. These "genital" types of HPV are either:
1) "high-risk" – which means they can cause certain kinds of cancer (most commonly, cervical cancer) if the infection persists, or
2) "low-risk" – which means they are not associated with cancer, but can cause genital warts. Unless you develop one of these problems, the only way to know whether you have HPV is by being tested.
