Why is it Important to Know About HPV?

Genital infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States (U.S.) today.

Over half of sexually active women and men are infected with HPV at some point in their lives.

In most cases, infections with HPV are not serious. Most HPV infections are asymptomatic, transient, and resolve without treatment. However, in some individuals, HPV infections result in genital warts, Pap test abnormalities, or, rarely, cervical cancer.

The Pap test is useful in early detection of cervical cancer, one of the possible outcomes of an HPV infection. Early detection and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions can prevent development of cervical cancer.

What is HPV?

Papillomaviruses are DNA tumor viruses that are widely distributed throughout animal species; these viruses are species specific. The papillomavirus that infects humans is called human papillomavirus, or HPV. HPV commonly causes epithelial proliferations at cutaneous and mucosal surfaces.

Types of HPV

There are more than 100 different types of HPV. They differ in terms of the types of epithelium they infect. Some infect cutaneous sites, whereas others infect mucosal surfaces.

Over 40 types infect mucosal surfaces, including the anogenital epithelium (e.g., cervix, vagina, vulva, rectum, urethra, penis, and anus). For most of these HPV types, there are sufficient data to divide them into “high-risk” (e.g., oncogenic or cancer-associated) types and “low-risk” (e.g., non-oncogenic) types .

How Common is HPV?

Approximately 20 million Americans 15 to 49 years of age (approximately 15% of the population) are currently infected with HPV.

Important info from the CDC regarding the HPV Vaccine:

http://www.cdc.gov/std/Hpv/common-clinicians/InsertParents.pdf 

For information on all STDS please check-out the most accurate and up to date information at http://www.cdc.gov/std/healthcomm/fact_sheets.htm.

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