The scientific name of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) which is the subject of this paper is Human Papilloma Viruses (HPVs). HPVs are believed to be the most common sexually transmitted agent across the globe. These viruses are members of a large Papillomaviridae family of known DNA viruses. By this day, over 100 types of these viruses have already been discovered, of which around 40 are known to infect the anogenital body region. The viruses infect both men and women regardless of racial, geographical, social, or economic status globally (Foresta et al, 2009). Whereas most HPV infections are not life-threatening, some high-risk viruses may cause cervical cancer and other types of cancer.
Location of the Body Infected by Human Papilloma Virus
HPV infections are acquired during the sexual intercourse. It may be transmitted by both men and women, with women being at greater risk for developing serious health outcomes after getting infected with HPV. According to Puri & Kumari (2014), “Sexually transmission requires the agent to be present in one partner, the other partner to be susceptible to infection with that agent and that the sex partners engage in sexual practices which can transmit the pathogen.” Condoms do not completely protect from HPV, since the contact still occurs by genitals, hands, etc. Rarely, human papilloma viruses are transmitted non-sexually via oral contacts; they are also transmitted during oral sex.
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Common Symptoms of Human Papilloma Virus
Most patients are asymptomatic and therefore might not undergo medical treatment (De Martino et al, 2013). In majority of cases, human body is known to clear away within a period of 2 years. Sometimes, genital (or throat) warts may appear in both men and women; cervical cancer is an indication of the virus.
Treatment Options
Subclinical and high-risk infections of HPVs are believed to be neither clinically manageable nor curable since they are transient in essence and cannot be identified clinically. Most HPV infections typically clear spontaneously with time (i.e. without any medical action) and only continue in a small proportion of males (Dunne et al, 2006). At the same time, scholars disagree on whether HPV is utterly eliminated or gets reduced to the levels impossible to detect; they also point out that it is hard to predict when HPV is going to be contagious (Szarewski, 2011). Medical attention focuses mostly on prevention, which includes vaccination, use of condoms, sexual abstinence, and application of microbicides prior to the sexual contact.
Recent Research Studies regarding Human Papilloma Virus
Human papilloma virus has been the subject of numerous research studies. In a recent study by Wilson, Welch, & She (2014) it has been found that the use of the vaccine against HPV which can cause cervical cancer has been effective among younger age groups. For the period between 2004 and 2013, in women aged 14-24 high-risk rates decreased by as much as 20 per cent. The study has come to the conclusion that following the vaccine introduction HPV positivity has dropped at the rate inoculation was getting widespread, in particular in young female population.
De Martel et al (2012) have found that Human Papilloma Virus is responsible for 100 per cent of cervical cancer, 88 per cent of anal cancers, 70 per cent of vaginal cancers, 50 per cent of penile cancers, and 43 per cent of vulvar cancers. It has also been found that most of these cases were caused by HPV-16 or HPV-18 (Arbin et al, 2012).
Giuliano et al (2014) found that HPV-related cancers develop more frequently in women than in men, including countries with effective programs of cervical screening. Moreover, it has been found that HPV infection prevalence varies across the anatomic sites, with the highest prevalence in genitalia and the lowest one orally. It has also been found that female-to-male transmissions take place more often than male-to-female.
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- De Martel, C., Ferlay, J., Franceschi, S., et al. Global burden of cancers attributable to infections in 2008: a review and synthetic analysis. Lancet Oncol,13, 607–15.
- De Martino, M., Haitel, M., Wrba, E., Schatzl, G., Klatte, T., Waldert, M. (2013). High-risk Human Papilloma Virus infection of the foreskin in asymptomatic boys. Urology, 81 (4), 869-872.
- Dunne, E.F., Nielson, C.M., Stone, K.M., Markowitz, L.E., & Giuliano, A.R. (2006). Prevalence of HPV infection among men: a systematic review of the literature. J Infect Dis, 194, 1044–1057.
- Foresta, C., Ferlin, A., Bertoldo, A., Patassini, C., Zuccarello, D. and Garolla, A. (2011), Human papilloma virus in the sperm cryobank: an emerging problem? International Journal of Andrology, 34, 242–246.
- Giuliano, A. R., Nyitray, A. G., Kreimer, A. R., Pierce Campbell, C. M., Goodman, M. T., Sudenga, S. L., Monsonego, J. and Franceschi, S. (2014), EUROGIN 2014 roadmap: Differences in human papillomavirus infection natural history, transmission and human papillomavirus-related cancer incidence by gender and anatomic site of infection. Int. J. Cancer. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.library/doi/10.1002/ijc.29082.
- Puri, N., & Kumari, P. (2014). A study on sexually transmitted diseases in patients in a STD clinic in a district hospital in North India. Our Dermatology Online, 324 (20), 20.
- Szarewski, A. (2011). Social and psychological aspects of cervical screening. Expert Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 6 (1), 37-44.
- Wilson, A., Welch, R., & She, R. (2014). Surveillance of Human Papilloma Virus in the United States to evaluate vaccine impact. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 6 (1), e164.
