HPV Symptoms and Tests

Infection by genital HPV (human papillomavirus) is very common. At least half of people who are sexually active will contract the HPV virus at some point in their lives. Yet many will not know it because they will not have any symptoms.

Whether symptoms occur or not can depend on the type of HPV virus involved in the infection. There are more than 100 types of HPV. Some HPV types are associated with genital warts, although the warts are not always visible.

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Related to HPV

HPV symptoms, HPV vaccine, HPV test, Cervical cancer, Genital warts, Gardasil, Human papillomavirus, LEEP, Colposcopy, Pap test

Some types of HPV are associated with cervical and other cancers, and no warts occur, and no other symptoms may be noticed. Some HPV types also cause common warts that you can find on other areas of the body such as your hands or feet.

Many people who get genital HPV will clear it without treatment and without symptoms, and no health problems will occur. The longer the virus is in the body, however, the higher your risk of developing health problems such as cervical cancer or anal cancer.

Here's what you need to know about genital HPV infection, HPV symptoms, and the HPV test:
HPV Symptoms

The HPV virus lives in mucous membranes, such as those in the genital area, or on the skin. If genital warts show up, it's an indication of HPV infection. Genital warts take on many different appearances. They can be raised, flat, pink, or flesh-colored. They can even be shaped like cauliflower. Sometimes there is a single wart; other times multiple warts appear. They can be small or large. They can be on the anus, cervix, scrotum, groin, thigh, or penis.

Genital warts can show up weeks or even months after sexual contact with a person infected with HPV virus. That person may not know he or she is infected and is responsible for HPV transmission.

Some types of genital HPV infection are associated with cancer, including cervical cancer and cancer of the vulva, anus, or penis. If infection occurs with one of these virus types, precancerous changes can occur in cells in the tissue without causing any symptoms.
How Is HPV Infection Diagnosed?

The appearance of genital warts is one way HPV infection is diagnosed. A doctor simply does a visual inspection. The HPV types associated with warts, however, are not generally the types associated with cancer.

Women infected with the type of HPV that can cause cancer may first be told their Pap test results are abnormal. Pap tests are the main way doctors find cervical cancer or precancerous changes in the cervix.

To find out for sure if the changes are related to HPV, a doctor may decide to perform a DNA test to detect the virus in women who have an abnormal Pap smear. This tells you and your doctor whether the HPV virus you have can cause cancer. Only certain strains of HPV cause cancer. Indeed, HPV 16 and 18 account for 70% of all cervical cancers. This DNA test is often done on women who have mild Pap test abnormalities. It may also be done as part of a routine Pap test to women over age 30.

GlaxoSmithKline delivers two-day postgraduate course on cervical cancer prevention

With the dawn of a new era of cervical cancer vaccination, Georges Washington University joined forces with global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to deliver a two-day post graduate course on cervical cancer prevention to more than 100 Obstetricians / Gynaecologists and Paediatricians in Lebanon who attended to update their knowledge on the second most common cancer among women.

'Cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus (HPV),' explained Professor Imad Mufarrij, Clinical Professor of OB/GYN at Georges Washington University and one of the speakers in the course. 'It is a very common virus, 5 out of 10 women will become infected with it at some point in their life. It is not hereditary and can now be prevented.'

'This is why we as physicians have to understand the latest and most effective means to prevent cervical cancer from killing women,' he added. 'This includes early vaccination and regular pap smear screening.'

What is HPV?

HPV is a common virus and all women are at risk of infection with it at some point in their life time. Fifteen virus types are responsible for cervical cancer, 4 of which can be found in almost 80% of cervical cancer cases. These four cancer-causing types are HPV 16, 18, 45 and 31.

A new cervical cancer vaccine from by GSK which protects against these four types has been launched in Lebanon promising strong and long term protection for women and girls starting 10 years of age.

'Considering the novelty of vaccination to protect against cervical cancer, we physicians need to better grasp the details such vaccinations entail and decide on various points including which vaccine to use, what age to vaccinate at, and whether to repeat vaccination after a number of years,' said Mufarrij.

In Lebanon:

Though Cervical Cancer currently does not figure among the Lebanese National Cancer Registry statistics on cancer prevalence in the country, several studies have shown the disease to be a real issue in Lebanon.

4.9 % of women coming for a routine gynecological check up had cervical cancer based on a study published by Mroueh et al. Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 2002;23 (5):429-32. The study covered 1,026 women, 18-76 years old.

Cervical cancer was common in 10.4% of women based on the study El Saghir et al. J Med Liban. 1998 Jan-Feb;46 (1) :4-11. Moreover, The American University Hospital Tumor Registry shows 7% occurrence among females based on 1983-2003 records.