HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS
Odeta Stuikys Rose
What is Human Papillomavirus?
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the virus that transmitted between people through skin to skin contact and can infect both male and female and cause serious diseases.
There are two types of human papillomavirus 1. High risk human papillomavirus (ONCOGENIC) 2. Low risk human papillomavirus (NON ONCOGENIC)
Low risk human papillomavirus does not cause cancer but they can cause warts in different parts of the body like warts on feet, warts on face and neck. Low risk human papillomavirus includes type 6 and type 11. Both type 6 and type 11 human papillomavirus causes approximately 90% of all warts cases.
High risk human papillomavirus includes type 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. All these types can cause serious types of cancers. Every year, around 20,000 women and 12,000 men in the United States affected by cancers that stem from human papillomavirus, most of the American infected with human papillomavirus in their late teens and early 20s.
Human Papillomavirus and Cancer
Human papillomavirus can cause serious types of cancers like cervical cancer, anal cancer, oral and throat cancer and penile cancer.
In United States, cervical cancer is the main type of cancer linked to human papillomavirus infection. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by human papillomavirus. Every year 89% of cervical cancer, 80% of oropharyngeal cancer, 65% of vaginal cancer and 40% of penile cancer cases caused by human papillomavirus, diagnosed in the United States.
“Cancer can take months, even years to develop after a person gets human papillomavirus. The types of human papillomavirus that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types of human papillomavirus that can cause cancers.� Said Odeta Stuikys Rose.
How Human Papillomavirus Spread? Human papillomavirus can transmit into your body, normally through a break in the skin. Once transmit into your body human papillomavirus multiplies and start infecting the cells and the layers of the skin - Said Odeta Stuikys Rose.
Any person who has ever been physical relations with human papillomavirus infected person can get virus easily. Human papillomavirus can be passed even when an infected person has no sign and symptoms of HPV. The time between first contracting human papillomavirus and the appearance of lesions can be week to months or even years, sometimes people don’t even know they are infected with HPV.
Human papillomavirus can be spread by skin to skin contact so there are chances you can get human papillomavirus by touching surfaces that have been in contact with an HPV-infected person.
Walking barefoot in public areas such as the gym or pool can be a risk of infected with the types of Human Papillomavirus.
Symptoms of Human Papillomavirus
Most Human Papillomavirus infections go unnoticed because they don't cause any symptoms. Human Papillomavirus can remain in the body for weeks, months or even years without showing any symptoms of an infection.
But few people experience symptoms, different types of symptoms define different types of HPV. Common symptoms of some types of HPV are warts.
Common warts: Common warts appear on the knees, face, fingers and around the nails. Flat warts: Flat warts are small appears on the back of the hands, face and legs. Planter warts: Appear on the soles of the feet and can be painful. Filiform warts: Filiform warts form long, thin projections around the eyes, face, and neck.
How to Prevent Human Papillomavirus? You can reduce risk of Human Papillomavirus infection by using vaccines, there are 3 vaccines for the protection from Human Papillomavirus infection Gardasil, Gardasil 9 and Cervarix. All three vaccines protect against cervical cancer and Gardasil 9 also protect against genital warts. The vaccine is recommended for men and women ages 9 to 26, but vaccine does not protect against all types of HPV.
Take a diet which is low in sugar and fat & rich in fruits, vegetables, vitamins and minerals. Healthy diet and regular exercise will boost your immune system and a healthy immune system is able to fight against infections including HPV and its types. It’s very difficult to prevent common warts, but you can prevent the spread of common warts, don’t pick the wart and stop biting your fingernails. To reduce the risk of HPV type that causes planter warts, wear shoes in public pools and locker rooms.
Treatment for Human Papillomavirus There are several treatment options available for warts, but eliminate warts does not always eliminate HPV infection, warts can be reappear since the virus may still be present in the body.
Cryotherapy: In cryotherapy doctors use liquid nitrogen to freeze the abnormal areas and remove warts.
Electrocautery: In electrocautery, electrical current is used to remove warts. Laser therapy: In laser therapy doctors use a light beam for remove warts.
Interferon injection: Interferon injection is rarely used due to the high risk of side effects and cost.