What Is Human Papillomavirus (HPV)?

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common virus that can affect different parts of your body. There are over 100 types of HPV, including strains of HPV that cause warts on your hands, feet, face, etc. About 30 HPV strains can affect your genitals, including your vulva, vagina, cervix, penis and scrotum, as well as your rectum and anus.

HPV that affects your genitals is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that gets passed through skin-to-skin contact. Many people cringe at the thought of STIs, but the majority of genital HPV strains are harmless. This includes the type of HPV that causes genital warts.

Some strains of HPV are high-risk and can lead to cancers, like cervical cancer. Early detection and treatment can usually prevent this from happening.

Risk Factors

Factors that increase the risk  of HPV include:

  • having several sexual partners
  • having sex with someone who has had several sexual partners
  • having sex without using barrier protection, such as a condom or dental dam
  • having areas of broken or damaged
  • Trusted Source
  • skin
  • having contact with warts or surfaces where HPV exposure has occurred
  • not having the HPV vaccination

The risk of cancer  is higher if a person has HPV and:

  • has other sexually transmitted infections, such as chlamydia
  • delivered their first baby at a young age
  • has given birth to many children
  • smokes tobacco products
  • has a weakened immune system

Signs and Symptoms

HPV does not usually cause any symptoms.

Most people who have it do not realise it and do not have any problems.

But sometimes the virus can cause painless growths or lumps around your vagina, penis or anus (genital warts).

Prevention/Vaccine

To reduce the risk of contracting HPV, a person can:

  • Get the HPV vaccine.
  • Use barrier protection every time they have sex.
  • Limit their number of sexual partners.
  • Not have sex while genital warts are present.

To help prevent warts from spreading:

  • Avoid touching the wart unnecessarily.
  • Wash the hands after touching a wart.
  • Avoid shaving over a wart.
  • Use footwear in public areas, such as pools and locker rooms, if warts are present on the feet.
  • Treat and cover a wart until it disappears.
  • Avoid sharing towels and other personal items.

Speak with our professionals to see whether vaccination is appropriate for you. Anyone who is pregnant should wait until after delivery to have the vaccination.

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Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious.

Kolis Muller NY Citizen

Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious.

Kolis Muller NY Citizen

Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious.

Kolis Muller NY Citizen