Wrapping Up STD Awareness Month With Human Papillomavirus (HPV) — Guest Post by Marijke Vroomen-Durning, RN

April was STD Awareness Month, sponsored by the American Social Health Association (ASHA) and the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), and your favorite women’s health blog covered pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), chlamydia, gonnorhea, and genital herpes. Today, Marijke Vroomen-Durning, RN, takes us through must-know facts about human papillomavirus (HPV), which is a major contributing factor to the development of cervical cancer.

What Is HPV?

Until a few years ago, few people had heard of HPV or human papillomavirus. HPV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and, despite its relative obscurity until recently, it is one of the most common types of STIs that you can get.

HPV, unlike the more well-known diseases like syphilis and gonnorhea, is not just one virus – there are several types of HPV infection. Many cause genital warts. This type of HVP virus is considered to be low-risk. However, there are four types of HPV that are considered the major cause of cervical cancer and those are the high-risk infections.

Although genital warts aren’t pleasant, the biggest concern about HPV is its contribution to the development of cervical cancer. [Editor's note: Recently, HPV has also been linked to bladder cancer.]

How Can I Get HPV?

You get HPV through sexual contact – not just sexual intercourse. Therefore, heavy petting, oral sex, any type of skin-to-skin sexual contact exposes you to being infected. It’s important to understand that you can have HPV and not know it. In other words, your partner could have HPV at the bottom of his penis shaft or around the scrotum or inner thighs and if you have sexual contact, even with a condom, you can become infected. Women who are technically virgins and never had contact with semen can still become infected.

How Do I Know if I Have HPV?

You don’t. Unless the type of HPV you have causes genital warts, you have no way of knowing if you are infected. The only way to find out would be through a Pap smear, where a gynecologist takes a sample of the cells from your cervix. This text can tell if there are any abnormalities or cell dysplasia, meaning that something is happening and the cells are changing. At this point, the could be just minor changes or they could be pre-cancerous.

How Do I Treat HPV?

You can’t. There is no cure for HPV, just a new vaccine that can help reduce the chances of you developing it.

Genital warts can be removed, but the virus remains behind.

Is HPV Contagious?

HPV is highly contagious.

How Can I Prevent HPV?

Of course, the best way to prevent HPV infection, as with any type of sexually transmitted disease (STD) or STI is by abstaining from sexual activity. The next best step is to be in a monogamous relationship where your partner is faithful and does not seek sexual activity elsewhere. Condoms do cut down on the chances of developing the infection, but because the virus doesn’t have to be on the penis, you aren’t protected all that much.

There is a new vaccine called Gardasil that is targeting younger women who have not yet had sex. [Editor's note: Gardasil has been mandated for school-age childrenin numerous states, amid much controversy.] This group is important because if you are already sexually active, there’s a good chance you have already been exposed to the vaccine.

*****

Marijke Vroomen-Durning, RN, is the former author of the HPV channel at www.medbroadcast.com, aimed at both teens and young women, and their mothers. Marijke currently hosts Help My Hurt in the b5media Health and Wellness Channel.

Tags: womens health blog, womens health, women, woman, health, human papillomavirus, hpv, gardasil, vaccine, vaccination, cervical cancer, std, sti, sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection, bladder cancer, genital warts, mandatory vaccination, sexually active, virus, std awareness month, signs, symptoms, how do I know if i have, could i have, i think i have, how do i get, how do i treat, how do you prevent, gonorrhea, chlamydia, genital herpes, pelvic inflammatory disease, PID, marijke vroomen-durning, help my hurt, lively women, kristen king