What is HPV?

The human papillomavirus, also called HPV, is a common virus that infects the skin and mucous membranes. There are over 150 types of HPV.

The types of HPV that cause common warts, such as those that appear on the hands and feet, are transmitted through contact with the skin of an infected person. It is also possible to get this kind of common warts if you share towels or other objects with a person who has warts.

There are about 30 types of HPV that are only transmitted through genital contact or direct sexual contact. There are two groups of "genital" HPV DNA: 1) "high risk", which means they can cause certain types of cancer (the most common, cervical cancer) if the infection is persistent, or 2) "low risk", which means they are not related to cancer but can cause genital warts. Unless you have one of these problems, the only way to know if you have HPV is being tested by a doctor.

How common is HPV?
Having HPV is so common as colds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported that up to 80% of women (and 50% of men and women) will contract a genital HPV type at some point in their lives. However, most of those infections go away or are destroyed by the body in one or two years without causing any issue that has to be treated.


The types of HPV that cause genital warts symptoms, abnormal cells in the cervix (dysplasia) or cervical cancer are transmitted between people through sexual intercourse or by intimate contact of the skin (normally, the skin of the genitals ). They cannot be passed on by breathing or by touching objects (like a door knob) or shaking hands.

Condoms protect to some extent, but can not completely avoid infection because they don't cover the whole genitals. It is important to know that although the risk of HPV infection increases if you have more than one sexual partner, it is also possible to have the virus if you have a monogamous relationship. It is also useful to remember that women who have had only one sexual partner for many years must also be assessed to see if there are abnormal cells that can cause cervical cancer. This is because HPV can lie dormant (asleep, hidden) in cervical cells for months or even for many years. When the virus is dormant, not active, so it is not discovered when I do the test or expand or cause any problem. However, the infection can "reappear", perhaps by changes in the body's immune system. It is impossible to know exactly when and who has become infected with HPV.