What Is HPV? How Do You Get It? And can It Be Cured?
HPV is the most common kind of sexually transmitted infection. Most people who have sex will get HPV at some point during their lives. Most kinds of HPV aren’t harmful and will be cleared by the immune system within 2 years, but some kinds can lead to certain types of cancer.
There is a vaccine which, although doesn’t protect against all kinds of HPV, has recently shown a dramatic drop in the cervical diseases which lead to cancer.
Belle About Town spoke to GP Dr Lizzie Kershaw-Yates to find out the facts about HPV.
What is HPV?
Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are a common form of sexually transmitted diseases. Most infections aren’t harmful and will go away on their own.
There are more than 200 types of HPV, about 40 of which are spread through sexual contact and infect the genital area. Most people with HPV experience no symptoms, and therefore aren’t even aware that they are infected.
However, there are at least a dozen types of HPV that can lead to cancer, and these are called high-risk HPV.
If left untreated, high-risk HPV can sometimes lead to:
- Cervical cancer
- Anal cancer
- Cancer of the penis
- Vulval cancer
- Vaginal cancer
- Some types of head and neck cancer
Protecting yourself
You can reduce your risk of contracting HPV by using protection like condoms and dental dams. They aren’t perfect but they can help to lower your chances.
HPV affects the mouth, throat or genital area. HPV is easy to catch – you do not need to have penetrative sex. Some other ways of catching HPV include:
- Any skin-to-skin contact of the genital area
- Vaginal, anal or oral sex
- Sharing sex toys
HPV is not contracted by having sexual contact with a lot of people – you can also get it the very first time you’re sexually active.
There is currently no test to show if HPV is present in men. However, there is a test for women They should also consider getting the HPV vaccine and make sure they get regular cervical screenings and check-up.
Getting tested
Women aged 25-65 are offered cervical screenings by the NHS. Before 25 and over 65, cervical cancer is very rare. Cervical screenings can be done at a GP’s or a sexual health clinic where a small sample of your cells will be taken from your cervix for testing. The test should take less than 5 minutes.
The NHS screening programme is for cervical cancer and they also take samples for HPV. You can, however, also test yourself for HPV outside the NHS screening programme. This can be done at any age, and if the result is positive, you will be referred to a gynaecologist for discussion of further investigations.
If you do test positive for high-risk HPV, don’t panic – it doesn’t mean that you have cancer. It just means you are at a higher risk and will have to have regular check-ups. If you test positive, wear protection to prevent spreading it to any partners.
People with high-risk HPV will have to have a cervical smear test every 12 months to check for abnormal cells. If there are abnormal cells detected, you will have to then have a colposcopy (examination of the cervix) to remove these before they become cancerous.
A cure for HPV?
There is currently no cure for HPV infection but usually the immune system clears the virus from your body within 2 years.
Most people with high-risk HPV will not develop cancer, but they shouldn’t ignore the diagnosis. Make sure you are checked regularly so that anything abnormal can be treated before it develops into something else.
HPV is extremely common and most of the time it is nothing to worry about. Stay aware and make sure you go to your cervical screenings when you are invited, to catch any abnormalities early on.
- Advice given by Dr Elizabeth Kershaw-Yates, GP and the medical team at TheSTIclinic
