What Causes  Human Papillomavirus or HPV?

Human Papillomavirus or HPV lately has been the most passed on bug in the United States. There are a little over 200 known HPV strains but only a small percentage of these, in the middle of thirty and forty types of HPV, are the cause of infection on the anal and genital regions of a patient.

Some of these HPV strains are manifested with genital warts, some of which are seen as cauliflower-like and some flat. However, the strains that do not cause warts but instead bring about precancerous lesions. It is alarming to know that most cervical cancers are by human papilloma virus. A tenacious and persistent HPV infection is something to watch out for.

You would be surprised to know that majority of PV infections that affect young women are insignificant and only transitory or momentary. At some point in a sexually-vigorous individual’s life, he or she may acquire certain harmless types of human papilloma virus strains. Before a woman reaches the age of 50, most American women have had contracted strain of HPV.

Seventy percent of these occurrences just pass through after a year and almost ninety percent are totally gone in two years. However, the unrelenting ten percent HPV strain will most likely bring about lesions on the cervix and eventually move forward into being cervical cancer. And cervical cancer will cause almost four thousand female deaths this year.

These are some types of HPV infection-caused warts that may display itself on an infected individual’s skin:

• Flat warts – is most commonly seen in young people – teens and children, and are found normally in the forehead, face, and/or arms. This type of wart is not connected with the formation of cancer.

• Plantar warts – when you experience pain on the sole area when walking, you may have plantar warts. Unlike the common wart, the plantar wart grows inward.

• Subungual wart – is the most difficult to treat in all types of wart. It grows underneath then fingernail and would be very hard to reach.

• Common wart – these warts are frequently seen within the hands and feet area, but may also show in some parts of the body. They appear as tiny cauliflower-like mounds on the skin.

• Genital warts – or venereal warts are the most known signs of HPV. However, most of these warts are not the ones that generally bring about cervical cancer.

You might have seen Dede Koswara on television, the Indonesian man who had warts all over his body and they were so pronounced he nearly looked like a tree. This was caused by HPV.