Human papillomavirus (HPV) and what makes it dangerous
What is papillomavirus infection?
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an extremely common infection that is transmitted mainly sexually. Most people are infected with HPV because it is easily transmitted and therefore infect others. Infection can occur both during sexual contact and through household contact. The virus can live in the body for a long time, even from birth, and manifest itself only after many years. Persons who are not picky about sexual relations are most prone to infection. However, sometimes it is quite simple to be in close contact with a carrier of the virus, for example, to live in the same apartment.
There are three ways of transmission of the virus - sexual, contact-household (through microtraumas of the skin) and perinatal (from mother to child). As a rule, formations appear in people at a time when the immunity is especially weakened, for example, after suffering the flu and other infectious diseases. Pregnant women and people with bad habits are also susceptible to papilloma formation. Promiscuous sexual relations, as well as sexual contact with a person carrying the virus - including a risk factor for the appearance of papillomas.
About the disease
More than 30% of the world's population has HPV, but many people do not even know about it, since the pathogen may not manifest itself in any way. Benign skin lesions can occur in both the elderly and children, with acrochorda (filamentous papillomas) occurring in approximately 50% of seniors (papillomas in the armpits, groin, neck and around the eyes).
Today, more than 100 types of HPV are known.
It is reliably known that HPV type 2 mainly affects the skin, causing the appearance of warts, and HPV 6, 11, 16, 18, 30, 31, 33, etc. gravitate to the mucous membranes. For a long time, the human papilloma virus was considered the cause of only skin and genital warts, and only relatively recently the oncogenic properties of papillomaviruses were discovered - their ability to cause cancer and, above all, cancer of the genital organs, in both men and women.
Based on long-term research, doctors have created a classification of HPV with regard to its oncogenic activity.
- "High-risk" HPV types (primarily 16, 18, 31, and 45). Increase the risk of precancerous diseases and genital cancer.
- "Low-risk" HPV types (mainly 6 and 11). Cause the appearance of condylomas, but are not associated with precancerous diseases and cancer of the genital organs.
The presence of "high-risk" HPV in the body increases the probability of cancer by 60 times.
Kinds
There are a large number of strains of papillomavirus infection, each of which has certain nuances of the course and clinical manifestations. The most common classification of papillomas depending on appearance and location:
- vulgar: are smooth or bumpy growths on the skin;
- filamentous (acrochords): oblong, elongated formations on a thin stalk;
- plantar (plantar): flat structures located on the soles of the feet;
- acute condylomas: growths that somehow resemble cauliflower; usually found in the genital area;
- flat: most people have them on the face and neck, they are a flat structure that does not rise above the skin.
Symptoms of papillomavirus infection
The human papilloma virus "lives" in the blood, it manifests itself on the skin and mucous membranes in the form of papillomas - small, sometimes almost imperceptible, skin formations on the leg. If they are located on the mucous membranes of the genitals, in the perianal area, they are called acute condylomas.
Papillomas and condylomas can appear, disappear and appear again, because they are manifestations of a viral infection, and their presence depends on the current state of the body's defenses, that is, immunity. They can be single or multiple, which sometimes merge and look like cauliflower. They are most often located on the mucous inner surface of the labia minora, vagina, cervix, near the opening of the urethra; in men - around the head of the penis, on the inner surface of the foreskin. Sometimes they cause itching, irritation, and bleeding. Many do not pay attention to this, because these inequalities exist since childhood, and people consider it their anatomical norm or a cosmetic defect. Unfortunately, condylomas are most often found only by accident during an examination by a specialist.
Reasons
The cause of the appearance of papillomas is a defeat by one or another strain of the human papilloma virus. It is transmitted through sexual contact and domestic contact. Having somehow entered the body, the virus remains in it, periodically manifesting itself when immunity is reduced.
