HPV INFECTION - Get The Facts Here


by Khush Grewal - Date: 2007-04-02 - Word Count: 426 Share This!

You are about to learn about:

What is genital HPV infection? How common is HPV? How do people get genital HPV infection? What are the signs and symptoms of genital HPV infection?

What is genital HPV infection?

HPV, also known as human papilloma virus is a sexually transmitted disease. Genital HPV infection is also a sexual transmitted disease that is caused by HPV. Human papilloma virus is a name of a group of viruses that includes more than hundred different strains or Types. Most people who become infected by HPV infection will not have any symptoms.

How common is HPV?

Approximately 20 million people are currently infected with HPV. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. About 6.2 million Americans get a new genital HPV infection each year.

How do people get genital HPV infection?

The types of HPV that infect the genital area are spread primarily through genital contact. Most HPV infections have no signs or symptoms; therefore, most infected persons are unaware they are infected, yet they can transmit the virus to a sex partner. Rarely, a pregnant woman can pass HPV to her baby during vaginal delivery. A baby that is exposed to HPV very rarely develops warts in the throat or voice box.

What are the signs and symptoms of genital HPV infection?

Most people that are infected by HPV infection will not know they are infected. The virus lives in the skin or mucous membranes and usually causes no symptoms. Some people get visible genital warts, or have pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, vulva, anus, or penis. Very rarely, HPV infection results in anal or genital cancers.

Genital warts usually appear as soft, moist, pink, or flesh-colored swellings, usually in the genital area. They can be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large, and sometimes cauliflower shaped. They can appear on the vulva, in or around the vagina or anus, on the cervix, and on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. After sexual contact with an infected person, warts may appear within weeks or months, or not at all.

Genital warts are diagnosed by visual inspection. Visible genital warts can be removed by medications the patient applies, or by treatments performed by a health care provider. Some individuals choose to forego treatment to see if the warts will disappear on their own. No treatment regimen for genital warts is better than another, and no one treatment regimen is ideal for all cases.


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To Get All The Facts About HPV Infection, Please Visit http://www.hpv-virus.net

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