What is HPV (Human Papillomavirus)?
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). HPV is a different virus than HIV and HSV (herpes). HPV is so common that almost all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their life.
What are the symptoms of HPV?
Most men or women who get HPV never have symptoms, and the infection usually goes away completely on its own. However, if HPV does not go away, it can cause genital warts/condylomas or certain types of cancer.
STRAINS/PEOPLE
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considers that HPV types 36,18,31,33,35,39,45,51,52,56,58,59,68 and 82 are of high oncological risk, being the 16 and 18 the most frequent.
How HPV is transmitted in men or women?
Anyone can get HPV by having unprotected oral, vaginal, or anal sex with someone who has the virus. Direct contact (skin-to-skin) is the most efficient way of transmitting HPV, which is not transmitted through fluids such as blood or semen.
Most of the time, HPV infection does not cause any symptoms or discomfort, and the person is not aware that they have this infection. However, you can pass it on to other people. You can also get HPV by having sex with just one person, and symptoms may appear years after you had sex with the infected person.
Keep in mind that the risk of becoming infected increases if:
Sexual intercourse begins at an early age (before the age of seventeen).
They have had sexual relations with several people.
One member of the couple has had multiple sexual partners.
Condoms are not consistently used during sexual intercourse
In men, premalignant lesions and penile cancer may appear. In addition, in homosexual men it has also been proven that it participates in the development of anal Cancer. Logically, it can also produce viral warts or condylomata acuminata, as in women.
What treatment does the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV/HPV) have?
We must stimulate the immune system, which is responsible for generating a cellular response and the production of antibodies at the levels of the genital mucous membranes, which are responsible for clearing up the virus infection. “Only the lesions in the tissues caused by the virus (conization of the cervix) are treated or surgical treatment is applied in cervical, vaginal or vulvar cancer”
Can i get hpv again?
"The patient thinks they have HPV again, and yet it's a different type.
It is believed that when the immune system is depressed, the virus can be reactivated.
The immunity created by the first infection is not perennial and can be acquired in
various occasions. It is also possible to get another type of HPV virus
(remember that there are more than 150).
Am I going to have cancer??
Only some of them also have the potential to develop cancer in certain locations such as the cervix or the anorectal area, fundamentally. HPV causes 99.9% of cervical cancer cases. It also causes cancer of the anus, head of neck (oropharyngeal cavity). But there are far fewer high-risk oncological viruses than low-risk ones and, therefore, less frequent. Specifically, the most studied are types 16 and 18.
Given these facts, it seems logical to think that in addition to promoting sexual education in adolescents, preventive methods such as condoms, latex oral barriers and vaccines, it is advisable to promote and strengthen the immune system and the protection of the cells of the mucous membranes and skin to fight infection, without forgetting to follow the therapeutic guidelines indicated by our medical practitioner.