An HPV carrier may not be aware that he is infected. Symptoms are not immediately visible and appear only in the form of papillomas of various localization:
- Vulgar. It appears as a small hard bump about 1 cm in diameter, most often on the hands.
- Filiform. Small seals in the form of yellow cones, often changing and growing.
- Plantar warts. It is often confused with calluses.
- rightItching before the manifestation similar to the manifestation of allergy. Then they become round, light.
- Pointed warts. They are in intimate places, on the mucous membrane.
Accompanying symptoms may appear in women with formations on the genitals:
- heat;
- itching;
- period disruption;
- pain, blood at the sites of neoplasms.
In men, HPV rarely manifests itself in the form of genital warts, they act as carriers of the disease.
Blood test for papillomavirus type 18 (16)
In developed countries, a blood test for human papillomavirus is used for mass detection of carriers and sick people. The diagnostic reliability of cytology is up to 95%. In the United States, DNA testing is performed for the following symptoms:
- As a screening test in women over 30 years of age;
- Identify questionable research results;
- In the absence of inspection programs;
- For follow-up after removal of cervical cancer.
List of diagnostic procedures for detection of papillomavirus:
- Cytological examination together with the Digene test allows determining 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 taken after a gynecological or urological examination.
The main task of papillomavirus diagnostics is the detection of precancerous conditions. Colposcopy and cytology are the most common and convenient methods of diagnosing the disease.
Transfer methods
Among the mechanisms under which you can become infected:
- connection;
- vertical (from mother to child during birth).
The implementation of the communication mechanism is carried out through sexual and contact-household ways. Thus, HPV can be transmitted in the following ways:
- shake hands and kiss;
- using other people's hygiene products, including razors, washcloths, soaps, towels, and cosmetics;
- wearing clothes belonging to the carrier of the infection;
- visiting public baths, saunas and swimming pools.
Oncogenic types of the virus are sexually transmitted. The risk of infection increases many times in people who have sex with partners. The more often they change, the higher the chance of infection, and even using a condom, you can't be sure of your safety.
You can also get infected through homosexual intercourse, because they are characterized by damage to the epithelium and mucous membrane. And in this case, a condom doesn't really help either. The presence of warts on the body of the sexual partner also indicates the possibility of acquiring HPV through microtraumas in the body.
Pregnant women who are carriers of HPV should be aware of the possibility of infection to 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 a child manifests itself in the form of growths in the larynx, which are especially dangerous. It will be difficult for the baby to breathe and eat, and it may even suffocate.
To begin with, it is worth saying that papillomas are transmitted through the epidermis and saliva. At the same time, the infection may not make itself felt for some time and manifests itself only in the formation of genital warts and papillomas with a decrease in immunity. If we talk about how the papillomavirus is transmitted, if there are injuries, scratches and abrasions on the skin, the probability of infection increases significantly.
Attention! Many people wonder whether papillomas are inherited. The answer is no. When one of the family members is infected, the papilloma virus is transmitted from mother to baby at home or during childbirth.
There is often an opinion that the human papillomavirus is transmitted through sexual contact. This is true, but there are other ways of infection. The incubation period of human papillomavirus can be up to 10 years. Papillomas on the body can be formed by a simple touch or by the saliva of another person.
There are more than a hundred strains of HPV, most of which are transmitted through various types of close contact.
gender
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% protection against the virus, especially if it is not a barrier method.
Condoms provide 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 condoms. This is due to the fact that the virus lives in superficial tissues and easily colonizes mucous membranes.
In the presence of microabrasion, the virus enters the bloodstream and begins its destructive work. As a result of infection, genital warts or neoplasms that look like cauliflower appear in the mucous tissues of the genitals.
Men often infect their partners during intimate relationships. They have stronger immune systems and rarely show visible signs of infection. If you have a lot of sex with unknown women, they can be a virus carrier for a while. If the immune system of the sexual partner is weak, the papillomavirus can be passed from woman to man.
A person who is naturally immune to this virus can touch warts, have sex with an infected person and remain healthy. There are cases where one partner is positive for HPV and the other is negative despite living together for a long time.
Other routes of infection
The household method of infection, the possibility of infection during sexual intercourse is quite common.
The virus can be contracted when swimming in contaminated water, outdoor or indoor pools. Some time after going to a bath or sauna visited by an infected person, you can see peculiar growths on the body.
HPV is transmitted intranatally or transplacentally. Each method has a certain risk of infection.
Studies show that cesarean delivery increases the likelihood of human papillomavirus infection. In women, the risk of infection does not change in natural birth or artificial birth.
The repeated 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. Differences in oncogenicity of serotypes. the ability of each species to determine the number of intracellular divisions.
HPV transmission through sexual contact
Through sexual contact, HPV is transmitted as a sexually transmitted infection. After contact of the blood of the carrier or an infected person with the blood of the donor (erosion, cracks in the genital organs), the virion enters the bloodstream. Clinical symptoms are formed according to the serotype of the virus:
- Vulgar plantar warts are caused by HPV types 63, 1, 4, 2;
- Straight warts - 75, 41, 28, 49. 10, 3;
- Epidermodysplasia verruciformis is observed in patients with papillomatosis according to 11 or 6 serotypes.
According to scientists, there are still many papillomaviruses that have not been examined. Humanity has carefully studied oncogene representatives, which made it possible to create effective protection against cervical cancer in women.
Mechanism of papillomavirus infection at home
Human papillomavirus is a highly contagious virus, and according to statistics, 50-70% of the population is infected with it. However, clinical manifestations of infection are not so common, about 1-2% of cases. A person does not even realize that he is a carrier of HPV until immunity decreases and the virus is activated. By knowing the main ways HPV is transmitted, you can protect yourself from unwanted symptoms. So, how is HPV transmitted? All possible transmission routes will be discussed below.
Papilloma: how is it transmitted and what is it?
Currently, about 100 different types of the virus are known. Among them, there are those that are both 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 subtypes 6 and 11, which have a low carcinogenic risk. Oncogenic subtypes include strains 16 and 18, which induce cell mutation and cervical cancer.
The papilloma virus reproduces only in the cells of the skin and mucous membranes and causes their uncontrolled division. As a result, a person has the following clinical manifestations:
- various warts (common, flat, plantar);
- genital warts;
- papillomatosis of the oral cavity and larynx;
- papilloma of internal organs.
The role of the virus in the development of cervical cancer in women and genital 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
In the absence of characteristic growths on the skin or mucous membranes, it is impossible to independently detect the presence of a virus in the body. Special medical tests will allow you to identify sleep pathology. The absence of symptoms does not guarantee that a person is not dangerous to others.
How is papillomavirus (HPV) transmitted? Doctors distinguish several ways.
Contact by household
HPV is transmitted through household contact. It should be noted that in rare cases, but this option to get human papillomavirus infection (PVI), nevertheless 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 a swimming pool, fitness center.
The microscopic organism has such high activity that HPV is transmitted through saliva and kissing.
If there are abrasions, scratches, microcracks and various wounds on the skin, the risk of infection increases. Especially people with characteristic manifestations of an infectious disease - warts and papillomas.
A fairly common question: Does washing your hands regularly 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 transmitted through oral, vaginal and anal sex.
More often, the infection comes from a man, but the opposite situation is also possible, when reverse infection of HPV is recorded - from a woman to a man.
Predisposing factors are:
- early intimacy at a young 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 sexually transmitted through homosexual relations, when small lesions of 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 during protected sex? Unfortunately, yes. HPV is transmitted through condoms, as invisible warts can be located in the inguinal area unprotected by the product.
Using a condom greatly reduces the risk of infection, but does not guarantee complete safety. However, condom use is recommended for all people who have multiple sexual partners.
HPV is easily transmitted during oral sex. This increases the risk of developing tonsil cancer, especially if a person is infected with oncogenic strains.
Papillomavirus: mother-to-child transmission (vertical method)
Many pregnant women are worried - is HPV transmitted from mother to child? Unfortunately, such a route of infection occurs, and infection can occur both transplacentally (prenatally) and during childbirth.
If the first option is incredibly rare, then when a baby passes through an infected birth canal, the child can get the papillomavirus with high probability.
Possible infection of the larynx, bronchi and trachea in the newborn. The virus enters the mucous membranes and stimulates the formation of growths. Laryngeal papillomatosis can cause stenosis and suffocation of 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 accompanying papillomas, it ends with difficulty in breathing and exhalation.
Papillomavirus infection (PVI) belongs to the group of anthroponotic pathogens (transmission is carried out only from person to person). If we talk about how you can get infected with papillomavirus (HPV), it is mainly through sexual contact with an infected partner. In addition, the virus can remain active in dead skin cells for a certain period of time (relatively short), so in some cases, human papillomavirus infection is carried out through household contact. Now a little more about how to get HPV and what methods of infection.
Infectious papillomatosis
First of all, it is worth answering the question: "Is papilloma contagious? " Undoubtedly. 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 question frequently asked by patients. The answer to this will be positive. It is important to know that even protected sex is not a complete guarantee against infection. The virus can be in the groin and on the surface of the genitals, not protected by a condom.
Human papillomavirus: a sexually transmitted infection
The main way of transmission of papillomas 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 contracting the disease is especially high in men and women who are promiscuous when choosing a sexual partner. The risk group should also include people with homosexual tendencies. The experience of anal sex is accompanied by damage 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 harmless and treats them with folk methods. This error can lead to dangerous consequences - the abnormal growth of epithelial tissue enhances the spread of the papillomavirus throughout the body, and some of its strains cause cell mutation with the formation of various types of cancer.
More than 80% of the world's population is a carrier of the human papillomavirus, regardless of age and race.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common disease for which neither children nor adults are protected. It is quite simple to get this infection, because its cells are around us and maintain their viability for a long time without a carrier.
In addition, it can be imperceptibly located in the human body and will not manifest itself until a certain point. All this time, the infected object is a carrier of the disease, so HPV is transmitted both to people near him and to his family members.
Papillomavirus is a provocateur of the development of oncology
Almost every third person has small growths on their body that at first seem harmless and harmless. When such neoplasms are detected, the first reaction of the patient is to tear or remove them using folk methods.
In fact, such actions often cause irreparable damage to health, since the improper removal of papillomas can lead to the active proliferation of epithelial tissues. This helps HPV to spread rapidly in the body and in some cases causes skin cells to mutate and later turn into a cancerous tumor.
To date, scientists have divided all types of papillomavirus into three categories:
- safe;
- low oncogenic;
- is highly oncogenic.
One of the characteristics of HPV is that it is not a sexually transmitted disease in the usual sense. The sexual way is only one of several ways of infection, and it is far from the main one. Therefore, condoms do not always protect against human papillomavirus.
We suggest to find out what methods of transmission of the virus exist, how the infection occurs and whether it is possible to prevent it.
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 species, sexual transmission is the main route, but studies show that it is not the only one.
HPV prevention
There are a number of preventive measures, so there is a high probability of human papillomavirus infection entering the body.
- all skin injuries should be treated with antiseptics;
- use only personal hygiene products;
- rubber slippers should be used in public saunas, baths and swimming pools;
- any disease should be treated in time;
- commitment to a reliable sexual partner;
- use a condom for any sex. Although this does not guarantee safety, nevertheless, the papillomavirus is less likely to enter the body of both women and men through condoms;
- regular exercise;
- hardening of the body;
- observing sleep and nutrition.
Such precautions should be taken not only to prevent HPV infection, but also to protect against other sexually transmitted infections. Condoms provide protection against many diseases caused by 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 full examination and removal of such neoplasms is necessary. If there are papillomas in the genitals, a caesarean section is recommended to a woman to prevent infection of the child when passing through the birth canal.
There is a special vaccine against viruses of highly oncogenic strains, which is mainly recommended for women and adolescents up to 26 years of age. Even if the carrier of HPV is vaccinated, his immunity improves significantly and the virus goes into an inactive phase.
At the same time, it should be taken into account that the virus does not disappear from the body and, accordingly, the person remains a carrier of the infection. For safety reasons, he should use a condom during sex and use only personal hygiene products.
We understood how the human papillomavirus (women, men and children) is transmitted, now it remains to consider preventive measures. It should be noted right away 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 viral infection.
However, the high efficiency 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 should follow some simple rules that will help you avoid other, more serious health problems:
- be careful when choosing a sexual partner - avoid casual contacts;
- follow the rules of personal hygiene - wash your hands more often, especially after visiting public places;
- strengthen immunity - avoid stress and overwork if possible;
- get vaccinated - the vaccine appeared relatively recently, in 2006.
It is impossible to completely protect yourself from HPV infection by learning the ways of transmission of the human papillomavirus and following all prevention rules. If you have been in contact with a sick person and you are afraid that the virus may be transmitted, you can do a blood test for PCR. This way you will get a reliable answer. However, it should be noted that HPV does not require treatment in the absence of characteristic clinical manifestations.