HPV Cervical Cancer

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is known to be the main cause of cervical cancer.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, 16 and 18 are usually present when cancer of the cervix, vagina or vulva are found during testing. The more common HPV infections that are non-cancerous are types 6 and 11.

All 100 types of HPV can cause growth that will in time cause genital warts on or near the genitals and anus, common warts on the hands, planter warts on the feet and warts and lesions in the upper respiratory system and mouth.

There are more than 20 million people infected with HPV in the United States or 1 out of 5 will become infected at some point in their life. A cure for the human papillomavirus HPV has not yet been found.

Penetration does not have to take place for someone to become infected with HPV, Skin to skin contact with an infected person can spread the infection. Touching the genital area of an infected person with either the hands or mouth can cause infection as well. Using someone’s towel after a shower that is infected with HPV may also spread the infection.

The use of a condom is very highly recommended by health care providers. Condoms will help protect you from HPV cervical cancer. You need to be aware that the condom does not guarantee that you will not become infected with HPV. Condoms do not cover the entire genital and anal area and there may be imperfections in the condom causing it to leak.

A person can be infected with HPV and spreading the infection for up to 5 years without any signs or symptoms. For this reason health care providers suggest that if you are sexually active with more than one partner men need to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and women need to have a (Pap test) once a year. A Pap test is a simple procedure which collects cells from the cervix or vagina to be examined in a lab.

When signs do appear they may look like a tiny cauliflower- like bump, flat lesions or tiny steam -like protrusions, usually these types of warts are non-cancerous. When HPV infection takes place around the genitals these warts may be found.

When women become infected with HPV, the warts will occur around the vulva, near anus, on the cervix or in the vagina. Men will find the warts around the penis, scrotum and the anus.