HPV carriers may not be aware that they are infected. Symptoms do not appear immediately and only in the form of papillomas of different localization:
- Abusive. Appears in the form of small hard bumps with a diameter of about 1 cm, most often on the hands.
- Filiform. A small seal in the form of a yellow cone, often changing and growing.
- Plantar warts. Often confused with calluses.
- flatItching before the manifestation, similar to the manifestation of allergies. Then they become round, light.
- Pointy warts. They are found in intimate places, on mucous membranes.
In women with formations on the genitals, the accompanying signs may appear:
- heat;
- itching;
- cycle violation;
- pain, blood at the site of the neoplasm.
In men, HPV manifests itself in the form of rare genital warts, they act as carriers of the disease.
Blood test for papillomavirus type 18 (16)
Blood tests for human papillomavirus in developed countries are used for mass detection of carriers and sick people. The diagnostic reliability of cytology is up to 95%. DNA testing in the United States is done for the following signs:
- In women over 30 years old, as a screening test;
- To identify questionable research results;
- If there is no screening program;
- For control after removal of cervical cancer.
List of diagnostic procedures for papillomavirus detection:
- Cytological examination in combination with the Digene test allows you to determine the clinically important concentration of the virus in the blood;
- Urological, gynecological examination - to detect genital warts, genital warts;
- Histological examination of a piece of tissue taken after a gynecological or urological examination.
The main task of papillomavirus diagnosis is the detection of precancerous conditions. Colposcopy and cytology are the most common and affordable ways to diagnose this disease.
Transfer Method
Among the mechanisms under the influence of which you can become infected, there are:
- contacts;
- vertical (from mother to child during childbirth).
The implementation of the relationship mechanism is done through sexual means and domestic relations. Therefore, HPV can be transmitted through:
- shake hands and kiss;
- the use of other people's hygiene products, which include razors, wipes, soaps, towels and cosmetics;
- wearing clothes owned by an infected person;
- visit public baths, saunas and swimming pools.
This type of oncogenic virus is sexually transmitted. The risk of infection increases many times in promiscuous people. The more often they change, the higher the chance of infection, and even using a condom you cannot ensure your safety.
You can also be infected with homosexual relations, because they are characterized by injury to the epithelium and mucosa. And condoms in this case also do not really help. The presence of warts on the body of sexual partners also indicates the possibility of getting HPV through microtraumas on the body.
Pregnant women who are carriers of HPV should be aware of the possibility of infecting the child during its passage through the birth canal.
Infection is carried out only in the presence of characteristic growths in the genital area and cervix. At the same time, papillomavirus infection in children manifests itself in the form of growths in the larynx, which are very dangerous. It will be difficult for the baby to breathe and eat, maybe even suffocate.
To begin with, it should be said that papilloma is spread through the epidermis and saliva. At the same time, the infection may not be felt for some time and manifest itself in the formation of genital warts and papillomas only with a decrease in immunity. If we talk about how the papillomavirus is transmitted, then the possibility of infection increases significantly if there are damages, scratches and abrasions on the skin.
Attention! Many people are interested in whether papillomas are inherited. The answer is no. Only when one of the family members is infected, the papilloma virus is transmitted at home or from mother to baby during childbirth.
There is an opinion that most often the human papillomavirus is transmitted through sexual contact. This is true, but there are other routes of infection as well. The incubation period for human papillomavirus can be up to 10 years. Papillomas on the body can form through simple contact or through other people's saliva.
There are more than a hundred types of HPV, most of which are transmitted through various types of intimate contact.
sexually
HPV is sexually transmitted. This reason is considered the most common and dangerous, because often girls and boys are not aware of the presence of infection in the blood. Popular protection methods do not provide 100% security against viruses, especially if they are not barrier methods.
Condoms provide some protection to a person against HPV. It all depends on the type of infection and the person's immune system.
HPV can affect the skin on any part of the body. Papillomas are often sexually transmitted.
Infection can also occur through condoms. This is due to the fact that the virus lives on superficial tissues and easily colonizes mucous membranes.
With the presence of microabrasion, the virus enters the bloodstream and begins its destructive work. As a result of infection, genital warts or neoplasms resembling cauliflower appear on the mucous tissue of the genital organs.
Men often infect their partners during intercourse. They have a stronger immune system and rarely show signs of infection. If there is a lot of sexual contact with unknown women, they may act as carriers of the virus for some time. Papillomavirus can be transmitted from woman to man if the sexual partner has a weak immune system.
A person who is naturally immune to the virus can touch a wart, have sex with a sick person, and stay healthy. There are cases when one partner is tested positive for HPV, and the other is negative, despite the fact that they have been living together for a long time.
Other routes of infection
The household method of infection is quite common, as is the possibility of getting infected during sexual intercourse.
The virus can be transmitted while swimming in contaminated water, outdoor or indoor pools. You may notice strange growths on the body some time after visiting a bath or sauna where an infected person has visited.
HPV is transmitted intranatally or transplacentally. For each method there is a certain risk of infection.
Research suggests that cesarean delivery increases the likelihood of human papillomavirus infection. In natural childbirth or artificial childbirth in women, the risk of infection does not change.
The recurrent course of respiratory papillomatosis is provoked by the presence of several types of pathogens - 68, 59, 56, 52, 51, 45, 39, 35, 33, 31, 18, 16. The difference in the oncogenicity of serotypes lies in the ability of each type to determine the number of parts intracellularly.
HPV is transmitted through sexual contact
Through sexual contact, HPV is spread as a sexually transmitted infection. After contact of the blood of the carrier or an infected person with the blood of the donor (through erosion, cracks in the genital organs), virions enter the bloodstream. Clinical symptoms are formed according to the serotype of the virus:
- Vulgar plantar warts are provoked by HPV types 63, 1, 4, 2;
- Flat wart - 75, 41, 28, 49. 10, 3;
- Epidermodysplasia verruciformis is observed in patients with papillomatosis due to serotype 11 or 6.
According to scientists, there are many papillomaviruses that have not yet been examined. Mankind has carefully studied oncogenic representatives, which made it possible to create effective protection against cervical cancer in women.
The mechanism of infection with papillomavirus by domestic means
Human papillomavirus is a highly contagious virus and, according to statistics, from 50 to 70% of the population is infected with it. However, clinical manifestations of infection are not very common, in about 1-2% of cases. A person does not realize that he is a carrier of HPV until there is a decrease in immunity and activation of the virus. By knowing the main ways HPV is transmitted, you can protect yourself from unwanted symptoms. So, HPV - how is the disease transmitted? All possible delivery routes will be discussed below.
Papilloma: how is it transmitted and what is it?
Currently, about 100 different types of viruses are known. Among them, there are both harmless to humans and dangerous in terms of cancer development.
The following facts can be encouraging: viruses that cause the formation of warts and papillomas belong to 6 and 11 subtypes that have a low carcinogenic risk. Oncogenic subtypes include strains 16 and 18, which trigger cell mutations and cervical cancer.
The papilloma virus reproduces exclusively in skin cells and mucous membranes, causing their uncontrolled division. As a result, a person has the following clinical manifestations:
- various warts (common, flat, plantar);
- genital warts;
- papillomatosis of the mouth and larynx;
- internal organ papilloma.
The role of the virus in the development of cervical cancer in women and penile cancer in men has been proven, so it is important to know how the papillomavirus is transmitted to prevent infection.
Human papillomavirus: mode of transmission
It is impossible to detect the presence of the virus in the body itself if there are no characteristic growths on the skin or mucous membranes. Specific medical tests will allow to identify sleep pathology. The absence of symptoms does not guarantee that a person is not dangerous to others.
How is papillomavirus (HPV) transmitted? Medical experts distinguish several ways.
Call the house way
HPV is transmitted through households. It should be noted that it is rare, but this option to get human papillomavirus infection (PVI), however, has the right to exist.
You can get infected by shaking hands, using common household items - towels, slippers, wearing other people's clothes, especially underwear. Infection often occurs when visiting swimming pools, fitness centers.
Microscopic organisms have high activity so HPV is transmitted through saliva, kisses.
The risk of infection increases if the skin has abrasions, scratches, micro cracks, and various wounds. Especially contagious are people who have characteristic manifestations of the disease - warts and papillomas.
A fairly common question: Does frequent hand washing reduce the risk of infection? Of course, clean skin is more protected. However, hygiene measures do not protect against papillomavirus infection.
Is papillomavirus (HPV) sexually transmitted?
One sexual contact is enough to infect a person. HPV is spread through oral, vaginal and anal sex.
More often, the infection comes from a man, but the opposite situation is also possible, when reverse HPV infection is recorded - from a woman to a man.
Predisposing factors are:
- early intimacy at a young age;
- frequent changes of sexual partners, because do not forget that papillomavirus is sexually transmitted;
- the presence of genital warts on the genitals.
Papillomas are also sexually transmitted through homosexual intercourse, where minor injuries to the skin and mucous membranes of the anal area occur. This significantly increases the risk of infection, especially if one of the partners has external manifestations of the disease - anogenital warts.
Is human papillomavirus transmitted through protected sex? Unfortunately yes. HPV is transmitted through condoms, because warts that are not visible to the eye can be located in the inguinal area without being protected by the product.
Using a condom greatly reduces the risk of infection, but does not provide a complete guarantee of safety. Even so, condom use is recommended for everyone who has multiple sexual partners.
HPV is easily transmitted through oral sex. This increases the risk of getting tonsil cancer, especially if a person has been infected with an oncogenic strain.
Papillomavirus: transmission from mother to child (vertical method)
Many pregnant women worry - is HPV transmitted from mother to child? Unfortunately, such a route of infection occurs, and infection can occur transplacentally (in the prenatal period) and during childbirth.
If the first option is extremely rare, then when the baby passes through the infected birth canal, a child can get papillomavirus with a high degree of probability.
Possible infection of the larynx, bronchus and trachea in newborns. The virus is inserted into the mucous membrane and stimulates growth formation. Laryngeal papillomatosis can cause stenosis and shortness of breath in children, especially if the vocal cords are affected. Any infection, flu leads to swelling of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, and with the presence of concomitant papilloma, this ends with difficulty inhaling and exhaling.
Papillomavirus infection (PVI) belongs to the group of anthroponotic pathogens (transmission is carried out exclusively from person to person). If we talk about how you can get infected with papillomavirus (HPV), then mainly through sexual contact with an infected partner. In addition, the virus can remain active in dead skin cells for a certain (relatively short) period of time, therefore, in certain situations, infection with human papillomavirus is carried out by household means. Now a little more about how to get HPV and the methods of infection that exist.
Infectious papillomatosis
First of all, it is worth answering the question: "Is papilloma contagious? " Undeniably. And the appearance of warts requires complex treatment, including not only the removal of the formation, but also the administration of the necessary drugs.
Is latent HPV contagious? Another question often asked by patients. The answer will also be positive. Be aware that even practicing protected sex is not a full guarantee against infection. The virus can be based in the groin and the surface of the genitals, not protected by condoms.
Human papillomavirus: a sexually transmitted infection
The main way of transmission of papilloma is sexual contact with an infected partner. This type of transmission is typical for most types of viruses with high oncogenic activity.
The risk of getting this disease is high especially in men and women who are promiscuous when choosing a sexual partner. People with homosexual tendencies should also be included in the risk group. The practice of anal sex is accompanied by trauma to the skin and mucous membranes, which greatly facilitates the process of introducing HPV DNA into the human body.
A person often considers growths on the skin as harmless, and treats them with folk methods. This mistake can have dangerous consequences - the growth of abnormal epithelial tissue worsens the spread of papillomavirus throughout the body, and some of its strains trigger cell mutations with the formation of various types of cancer.
More than 80% of the world's population is a carrier of the human papilloma virus, regardless of age and race.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common disease that neither children nor adults are immune to. Getting infected with this infection is quite easy, because its cells are all around us and maintain their viability without a carrier for a long time.
In addition, it can reside in the human body invisibly and will not manifest until a certain level. All this time, the infected object is a carrier of the disease, which is why HPV is spread to people who are nearby and to family members.
Papillomavirus - the provocateur of the development of oncology
Almost every third person has a small growth on the body that at first seems harmless and harmless. When such a neoplasm is found, the patient's first reaction is to tear it off or remove it using folk methods.
In fact, such actions often cause irreparable harm to health, because improper removal of papillomas can trigger active proliferation of epithelial tissue. This is what contributes to the rapid spread of HPV in the body, and in some cases even causes the mutation of skin cells with subsequent degeneration into cancerous tumors.
Until now, scientists have divided all types of papillomavirus into three categories:
- safe;
- low oncogenicity;
- highly oncogenic.
One of the characteristics of HPV is that it is not a sexually transmitted disease in the usual sense. The sexual route is only one of several ways of infection, and far from the main one. That is why condoms do not always protect against human papillomavirus.
We offer to know the methods of virus transmission that exist, how the infection occurs and whether it can be avoided.
In total, about 130 types of human papillomavirus are known to medicine. Only about 40 of them affect the genitals. For most of these 40 types, the sexual route of transmission is the main one, but studies show that it is not the only one.
HPV prevention
There are several preventive measures, due to which human papillomavirus infection is most likely not to enter the body.
- all damage to the skin should be treated with an antiseptic;
- use only personal hygiene products;
- in public saunas, baths and pools it is necessary to use slippers made of rubber;
- any illness must be treated on time;
- fidelity to one reliable sexual partner;
- use a condom for any sexual intercourse. Although this does not guarantee safety, however, through condoms, the papillomavirus enters the body of both women and men with less probability;
- regular exercise;
- hardening of the body;
- adherence to sleep and nutrition.
Such precautions should be taken not only to avoid HPV infection, but also other sexually transmitted infections. Condoms provide protection against infection with many diseases that trigger the HPV virus to activate.
In the case of the presence of the virus in the body of a pregnant woman and its manifestation in the genital area, a full examination and removal of the neoplasm is required. If there is a papilloma on the genitals, a caesarean section is recommended for women to avoid infection in the child during the birth canal.
There is a special vaccine against highly oncogenic strains of the virus, which is recommended especially for women under 26 years of age and teenagers. Even in the case that HPV carriers themselves have been vaccinated, their immunity improves significantly and the virus enters an inactive phase.
At the same time, it must be taken into account that the virus does not disappear from the body, and, therefore, the person remains a carrier of the infection. For safety reasons, she needs to use a condom during intercourse and only use personal hygiene products.
We know how the human papillomavirus is transmitted (women, men and children), now it is still necessary to consider preventive measures. It should be said right away that the most effective way to avoid getting infected is preventive vaccination.
To date, two types of vaccines against this infection are known. They protect against the most dangerous oncogenic strains of viral infections.
However, the high effectiveness of such protection is observed only when vaccinated at an early age, before sexual activity or before infection with one of the HPV strains.
In order not to get infected with human papillomavirus, you need to follow some simple rules that will help you avoid other more serious health problems:
- be careful when choosing a sexual partner - avoid casual contact;
- follow the rules of personal hygiene - wash your hands more often, especially after visiting public places;
- strengthen immunity - if possible, avoid stress and overwork;
- get the vaccine - the vaccine appeared relatively recently, in 2006.
Despite having studied the ways of human papillomavirus transmission, and following all the prevention rules, it is impossible to completely protect yourself from HPV infection. If you have been in contact with a sick person and you fear that the virus may be contagious, you can take a blood test for PCR. This way you will get a reliable answer. But it should be noted that HPV does not require treatment if you do not have characteristic clinical manifestations.