What is human papillomavirus infection?
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a viral infection that passes between people through skin-to-skin contact. There are over 100 varieties of HPV, over 40-Trusted sources from which it is passed through sexual contact and can affect your genitals, mouth, or throat.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Trusted Source, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STR).
It is so common that most sexually active people will get some variety at some point, even if they have few sexual partners.
Some cases of genital HPV infection may not cause any health obstacles. However, some types of HPV can cause the development of genital warts and even cervical, throat and anal cancers.
Causes HPV
The virus that causes HPV infection is transmitted through the skin-to-skin connection. Most people get a genital HPV infection through having sexual contact, including vaginal, oral and anal sex.
Because HPV is a skin-to-skin infection, intercourse is not required for transmission.
Many people have HPV and don’t even know it, which means you can still contract it, even if your partner does not have any symptoms. It is also possible to have several types of HPV.
In rare cases, a mother who has HPV may pass the virus on to her baby during childbirth. When this happens, the child may exhibit a condition called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis where they develop HPV-related warts inside their throat or airways.
HPV symptoms
Often, HPV infection does not cause any noticeable symptoms or health problems.
In fact, according to the CDC, 90 percent of sources (9 out of 10) of HPV infections disappear on their own. However, because the virus is in a person’s body during this time, that person may still inadvertently transmit HPV.
When the virus does not go away on its own, it can cause serious health problems. These include warts in the throat and genital warts (known as recurrent respiratory papillomatosis).
HPV can cause cervical cancer and other cancers of the genitals, head, neck, and throat.
The types of HPV that cause warts differ from those caused by cancer. So, having genital warts caused by HPV does not mean that you will develop cancer.
Cancers caused by HPV often do not show symptoms until the cancer is in later stages of development. Routine screening can help diagnose health problems related to HPV. This can improve the outlook and increase the chances of survival.