8 Things You May Not Know About HPV
Channel: Health Grid
Date: 13/01/2018

8 Things You May Not Know About HPV.
It's the most common STD in America, but also one of the least understood. Here, some surprising truths about HPV — from the weird ways you can catch it to who really needs the HPV vaccine.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) garnered news headlines in 2017 when close to half of American adults were found to have this sexually transmitted viral infection.

A study published in the June 2017 issue of JAMA Oncology found that about 45 percent of U.S. men ages 18 to 59 have genital HPV infections. In women, the prevalence is about 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
1 Odds Are You’ve Probably Had HPV.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States: According to the CDC, 79 million Americans are currently infected with some form of HPV, and 14 million become newly infected each year.

“If you’ve been sexually active, you’ve got at least a 50 percent chance of having had the virus,” says Dr. Robinson. Some data suggests that more than 80 percent of sexually active women will get HPV at some point.
2 Condoms Can’t Completely Protect You From HPV.
While condoms can reduce your risk of HPV infection, they can’t eliminate it entirely.

“The virus can live in the scrotum and the hair-bearing areas of the genitals,” says Barbara Goff, MD, the director of gynecological oncology at the University of Washington in Seattle, so any foreplay that involves skin-to-skin genital contact can transmit the virus. So can oral and anal sex.
3 If You’re Infected, Your Current Partner May Not Be to Blame.
If you learn you have HPV (this is most likely to occur after an abnormal Pap test result; most doctors don’t routinely test for HPV otherwise), don’t jump to conclusions about where you contracted the virus.

“Some patients assume that their current sexual partner gave it to them,” says Robinson. “But that’s probably not the case. The women who develop cervical cancer at age 40 probably got infected shortly after [having sex] with their first sexual partner.”
4 If You’ve Had Abnormal Pap Smears, You May Be at Increased Risk for Other Cancers Caused by HPV .
Most people who know about HPV associate it with cervical cancer, but the virus is increasingly implicated in other forms of cancer, including head and neck cancers as well as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus, and penis. Evidence suggests that women who have had cervical cancer or precancerous changes (known as dysplasia) in the cervix are at a greater risk of HPV-related cancers in other areas of the body, says Goff.
5 Smoking Raises Your Risk of HPV-Related Cancer.
“Smoking weakens the immune system, which can allow HPV to grow more rampantly,” says Sharyn Lewin, MD, the medical director of gynecologic oncology at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey. If you want to prevent a dormant HPV infection from turning into a precancerous or cancerous growth, kick your cigarette habit today.
6 The HPV Vaccine Isn’t Just for Girls.
The HPV vaccine not only provides women with nearly 100 percent protection against cervical cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18 — which cause 70 percent of cervical cancers — but it also provides direct health benefits for men, including prevention of genital warts. And though conclusive studies have yet to be done, many researchers believe that vaccination of boys will eventually reduce rates of head and neck and other cancers as well.
7 You Still Need Pap Smears Even if You’ve Gotten the HPV Vaccine.
The HPV vaccine doesn’t protect against all possible high-risk types of HPV, nor does it protect against any strains a person was exposed to before vaccination, so Pap smears are still recommended for women who have had the HPV vaccine.

As of 2017, the only HPV vaccine available in the United States is Gardasil 9, which protects against HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, all of which can cause cancer, as well as types 6 and 11, which cause genital warts. Two earlier HPV vaccines, Cervarix and Gardasil, protect against fewer HPV strains.
8 The Vaccine Doesn't Treat HPV .
This may seem obvious, but it bears repeating: The HPV vaccine is only preventive. It doesn’t fight the virus in people who’ve already acquired it. That’s partly why it’s approved only for people in their twenties and younger; chances are that older populations have already been exposed to the HPV strains the vaccine protects against. However, researchers are currently studying the value of vaccinating women older than 26.