A carrier of HPV may not be aware that they are infected. Symptoms do not appear immediately and only in the form of papillomas of different location:
- vulgar. It appears in the form of a small hard bump with a diameter of about 1 cm, most often on the hands.
- Filiform. Small seals in the form of yellow cones often molt and grow.
- Plantar warts. Often confused with corns.
- Apartment. Itching before manifestation, similar to the manifestation of an allergy. Then they become rounded, light.
- Pointed warts. They are found in intimate places, on the mucous membrane.
In women with formations on the genitals, accompanying signs may appear:
- Warm;
- itch;
- cycle violation;
- pain, blood at the sites of neoplasms.
In men, HPV rarely manifests itself in the form of genital warts, as they act as carriers of the disease.
Blood test for papillomavirus type 18 (16)
A blood test for human papillomavirus in developed countries is used for mass detection of carriers and sick people. The diagnostic reliability of cytology is up to 95%. A DNA test in the US is performed for the following indications:
- In women over 30, as a screening test;
- Identify questionable research results;
- In the absence of screening programs;
- For control after removal of cervical cancer.
The list of diagnostic procedures for detecting papillomavirus:
- Cytological examination in combination with the Digene test makes it possible to determine the clinically significant concentration of the virus in the blood;
- Urological, gynecological examination - to detect genital warts, genital warts;
- Histological examination of a piece of tissue obtained 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 accessible ways of diagnosing the disease.
transfer methods
Among the mechanisms under the influence of which you can become infected are:
- contact;
- vertical (from mother to child during labor).
The implementation of the contact mechanism is carried out through sexual and household contact routes. Therefore, HPV can be transmitted through:
- handshake and kiss;
- the use of other people's hygiene products, which include a razor, washcloth, soap, towel and cosmetics;
- wearing clothes that belong to the carrier of the infection;
- visit public baths, saunas and swimming pools.
The oncogenic types of the virus are sexually transmitted. The risk of infection often increases in those people who are promiscuous in partners. The more they change, the greater the likelihood of infection, and even using a condom you cannot be sure of its safety.
You can also get infected with homosexual relationships, because they are the ones that are characterized by lesions in the epithelium and mucosa. And a condom in this case doesn't help much either. The presence of warts on the body of a sexual partner also signals the possibility of acquiring HPV through microtraumas in the body.
Pregnant women with HPV should be aware of the possibility of infecting a child during its passage through the birth canal.
Infection is carried out only in the presence of characteristic growths in the genital area and on the cervix. At the same time, papillomavirus infection in a child manifests itself in the form of growths on the larynx, which are particularly dangerous. It will be difficult for the baby to breathe and eat, maybe even suffocate.
To begin with, it is worth saying that the papilloma is transmitted through the epidermis and saliva. At the same time, the infection may not make itself 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 probability of infection increases significantly if there is damage, scratches and abrasions on the skin.
Heads up! Many people are interested in whether the papilloma is inherited. The answer is no. Only when one of the family members is infected, the papilloma virus is transmitted at home or from the mother to the baby during childbirth.
There is an opinion that most often the human papillomavirus is transmitted through sexual contact. This is true, but there are also other routes of infection. The incubation period for human papillomavirus can be up to 10 years. Papillomas on the body can form through a simple touch or through someone else's saliva.
There are over a hundred strains of HPV, most of which are transmitted through various types of close contact.
sexually
HPV is sexually transmitted. This reason is considered the most common and insidious, because often girls and boys are not aware of the presence of an infection in the blood. Popular protection methods do not provide 100% security against the virus, especially if it is not a barrier method.
A condom gives a person little protection against HPV. It all depends on the type of infection and the person's immune system.
HPV can affect the skin anywhere on the body. Papilloma is often sexually transmitted.
Infection can occur even through a condom. This is due to the fact that the virus lives in superficial tissues and easily colonizes mucous membranes.
In the presence of a microabrasion, the virus enters the bloodstream and begins its destructive work. As a result of the infection, genital warts or cauliflower-like neoplasms appear on the mucous tissues of Organs genitals.
Men often infect their partners during intimate relationships. They have a stronger immune system and rarely show visible signs of infection. If there is a lot of sexual intercourse with unknown women, they may be in the role of carrying the virus for some time. The papillomavirus can be transmitted from a woman to a man if the sexual partner has a weak immune system.
A person who is naturally immune to this virus can touch warts, have sex with a sick person, and stay healthy. There are cases where one partner tested positive for HPV and the other negative, despite living together for a long time.
Other routes of infection
The method of infection by domestic means is quite common, as is the possibility of getting an infection during sexual intercourse.
The virus can be transmitted by swimming in contaminated water, outdoor or indoor pools. You may see peculiar 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 caused by the presence of several types of pathogens - 68, 59, 56, 52, 51, 45, 39, 35, 33, 31, 18, 16. The differences in the oncogenicity of the serotypes are in the ability to each type to determine the number of intracellular divisions.
Transmission of HPV through sexual contact
Through sexual intercourse, HPV is transmitted as a sexually transmitted infection. After contact of the blood of a carrier or an infected person with the blood of a donor (through erosion, cracks in Organs genitals), the virion enters the bloodstream. Clinical symptoms are formed according to the virus serotype:
- Common plantar warts are caused by HPV types 63, 1, 4, 2;
- Flat warts - 75, 41, 28, 49, 10, 3;
- Epidermodysplasia verruciformis is seen in patients with papillomatosis due to serotype 11 or 6.
According to scientists, there are many papillomaviruses that have not yet been examined. Humanity has carefully studied oncogenic representatives, which made it possible to create effective protection against cervical cancer in women.
The mechanism of infection with the papillomavirus in the domestic form
The human papillomavirus is a highly contagious virus and, according to statistics, 50-70% of the population is infected with it. However, the clinical manifestations of the infection are not as common, in about 1-2% of cases. A person does not even realize they have HPV until there is a decrease in immunity and activation of the virus. Knowing the main ways of transmission of HPV, you can protect yourself from unwanted symptoms. So HPV - how is the disease transmitted? All possible transmission routes will be discussed below.
Papilloma: how is it transmitted and what is it?
Currently, about 100 different strains of the virus are known. Among them, there are harmless to humans and dangerous in terms of the development of cancer.
The following facts may be encouraging: the 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 cause cell mutation and cervical cancer.
The papilloma virus multiplies exclusively in skin and mucosal cells, 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 papillomas.
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: ways of transmission
It is impossible to detect the presence of a virus in the body on its own if there are no characteristic growths on the skin or mucous membranes. Specialized medical examinations will make it possible to identify a sleep disorder. The absence of symptoms does not guarantee that a person is not dangerous to others.
How is the papillomavirus (HPV) transmitted? Doctors distinguish several ways.
Contact home mode
HPV is transmitted through the home. It is worth noting that rarely, but this option of obtaining human papillomavirus (PVI) infection, however, has a right to exist.
You can get infected by shaking hands, using common household items - towels, slippers, wearing someone else's clothes, especially underwear. Often the infection occurs when visiting the swimming pool, fitness center.
The microscopic organism has such a high activity that HPV is transmitted through saliva, a kiss.
The risk of infection increases if the skin has abrasions, scrapes, micro-cracks and multiple wounds. Particularly contagious are people with characteristic manifestations of the disease - warts and papillomas.
A very common question: Will washing hands regularly reduce the risk of infection? Of course clean skin is more protected. However, hygiene measures do not protect against papillomavirus infection.
Is the papillomavirus (HPV) sexually transmitted?
One sexual contact is enough to infect a person. HPV is transmitted 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.
The predisposing factors are:
- early intimacy at an early age;
- frequent change of sexual partners, because do not forget that the papillomavirus is sexually transmitted;
- the presence of genital warts on the genitals.
Papilloma is also transmitted sexually through homosexual intercourse, during which small lesions of the skin and mucous membranes of the anal region occur. This significantly increases the risk of infection, especially if one of the partners has external manifestations of the disease - anogenital warts.
Is the human papillomavirus transmitted by protected sex? Sadly yes. HPV is transmitted through condoms, as warts that are invisible to the eyes can be located in the inguinal region unprotected by the product.
Condom use greatly reduces the risk of infection, but does not provide a complete guarantee of safety. Despite this, condom use is recommended for all people who have multiple sexual partners.
HPV is easily transmitted through oral sex. This increases the risk of developing tonsil cancer, especially if a person has been infected with oncogenic strains.
Papillomavirus: mother-to-child transmission (vertical method)
Many pregnant women worry - is HPV transmitted from mother to child? Unfortunately, this route of infection does occur, and infection can occur either transplacentally (in the prenatal period) or during childbirth.
If the first option is an incredible rarity, when a baby passes through an infected birth canal, a child can contract papillomavirus with a high degree of probability.
Possible infection of the larynx, bronchi and trachea in a newborn. The virus is introduced into the mucous membranes and stimulates the formation of growths. Laryngeal papillomatosis can lead to stricture and asphyxia in the child, especially if the vocal cords are affected. Any infection, a cold leads to swelling of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, and in the presence of concomitant papillomas, this ends with difficulty in inhaling and exhaling.
Papillomavirus (PVI) infection is included in the group of anthroponotic pathogens (transmission is carried out exclusively from person to person). If we talk about how you can get infected with the papillomavirus (HPV), 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, so in certain situations, human papillomavirus infection is carried out by domestic means. Now a little more about how to get HPV and what methods of infection there are.
contagious papillomatosis
First of all, it is worth answering the question: "Is papilloma contagious? "Without a doubt. And the appearance of warts requires complex treatment, including not only the removal of formations, but also the administration of the necessary drugs.
Is latent HPV contagious? Another frequent question from patients. The answer to that will also be positive. It is worth knowing that even the practice of protected sex is not a total guarantee against infection. The virus can be based in the groin and on the surface of the genitals, not protected by a condom.
Human papillomavirus: sexually transmitted infection
The main mode of transmission of papilloma is sexual intercourse with an infected partner. This type of transmission is typical for most strains of the virus with high oncogenic activity.
The risk of contracting the disease is especially high in men and women who are promiscuous in choosing a sexual partner. People with homosexual inclinations 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 usually considers skin growths harmless and treats them with folk methods. This mistake can have dangerous consequences - the abnormal growth of epithelial tissue exacerbates the spread of the papillomavirus throughout the body, and some of its strains cause cellular mutations with the formation of various types of cancer.
More than 80% of the world's population are carriers of the human papillomavirus, regardless of age and race.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common disease against which neither children nor adults are protected. Getting infected with this infection is quite simple as its cells are all around us and maintain their viability without a carrier for a long time.
In addition, it can install itself in the human body imperceptibly and will not manifest itself to a certain extent. During all this time, the infected object is a carrier of the disease, which is why HPV is transmitted both to people who happen to be close to it and to members of its family.
Papillomavirus - a provocateur of the development of oncology
Almost every third person has small bumps on their body that initially look harmless and harmless. When such neoplasms are found, the patient's first reaction is to pluck them out or remove them using popular methods.
In fact, such actions often cause irreparable damage to health, as improper removal of the papilloma can provoke an active proliferation of epithelial tissues. This is what contributes to the rapid spread of HPV in the body and, in some cases, even causes a mutation of the skin cells with further degeneration into a cancerous tumor.
To date, scientists have divided all types of papillomaviruses into three categories:
- safe;
- low oncogenic;
- highly oncogenic.
One of the characteristics of HPV is that it is not a sexually transmitted disease in the usual sense. Sexual intercourse is just one of several forms of contagion and is far from the main one. This is why condoms cannot always protect against human papillomavirus.
We offer to find out what methods of transmission of the virus exist, how the infection occurs and whether it can be prevented.
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 it is highly likely that human papillomavirus infection will not enter the body.
- all skin damage should be treated with antiseptics;
- use only personal hygiene products;
- in public saunas, baths and swimming pools, it is necessary to use rubber flip-flops;
- any illness must be treated in a timely manner;
- loyalty to a trusted sexual partner;
- use condoms for any sexual intercourse. Although this does not guarantee safety, however, through a condom, the papillomavirus enters the body of women and men less likely;
- regular exercise;
- hardening of the body;
- adherence to sleep and nutrition.
Such care must be taken not only to avoid HPV infection, but also other sexually transmitted infections. The condom offers a guarantee against infection by many diseases that cause the activation of the HPV virus.
In the case of the presence of a virus in the body of pregnant women and its manifestations in the genital area, a thorough examination and removal of such neoplasms is necessary. If there are papillomas on the genitals, a cesarean section is recommended for a woman to prevent infection of the child while passing through the birth canal.
There is a special vaccine against viruses of highly oncogenic strains, recommended mainly for women under the age of 26 and adolescents. Even under the condition that the HPV carrier himself is vaccinated, his immunity improves markedly and the virus passes into 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, he must use condoms during sexual intercourse and use only personal hygiene products.
We have discovered how the human papillomavirus is transmitted (women, men and children), now it remains to consider preventive measures. It should immediately be said that the most effective way to avoid infection is preventive vaccination.
To date, two types of vaccines against this infection are known. They protect against the most dangerous oncogenic strains of a viral infection.
However, the high effectiveness of this 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 the human papillomavirus, you need to follow some simple rules that will help you avoid other more serious health problems:
- be careful when choosing sexual partners - avoid casual contacts;
- observe the rules of personal hygiene - wash your hands more often, especially after visiting public places;
- strengthen immunity - if possible, avoid stress and overwork;
- vacine yourself - the vaccine appeared relatively recently, in 2006.
Even having studied the ways of transmission of the human papillomavirus, and following all the rules of prevention, it is impossible to completely protect yourself from HPV infection. If you've had contact with a sick person and you're afraid the virus might be transmitted, you can have a blood test for PCR. That 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.