High Risk HPV

HPV or human papillomavirus is a group of viruses and they are classified into two different types namely low risk HPV and high risk HPV. HPV transmission could occur due to a sexual contact, sharing of sex toys and an infected mother could also pass it to her baby.

HPV in general is a common infection amongst sexually active people and high risk HPV is when the person affected by it has higher chances of developing a cancer as opposed to low risk HPV infection wherein the person is not likely to develop cancer at all. These are further classified into different types as there is a huge list of different types of infection. In fact, it has over a hundred types altogether. High risk HPV is almost detected in all the cases of cervical cancer and this is a more noticeable infection than the low risk HPV. Although all types of cervical cancers are related to HPV infections, it does not mean that all high risk HPV cases would certainly lead to cervical cancer.

High Risk HPV Types

The high risk HPV types include HPV-16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68 and 69. These are only a few varieties or types that are transmitted sexually. There are few other types of high risk that cause growth on the skin resembling flat warts and are not that prominent as compared to low risk HPV types. While HPV in men is also a possibility (in fact, studies suggest that about fifty percent of the sexually active people get affected with HPV, so one can imagine that it should have equal number of men if not many), women are at a higher risk of getting affected by it.

It may sound strange but there are no obvious high risk of HPV symptoms as such. If the HPV is persistent and does not go away by itself then it may lead to cervical cancer and it's not just cervical cancer that it may lead to but it could also be a major risk factor for the cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus, penile cancer and also of the oropharynx in some cases.

As mentioned earlier, high risk HPV does not produce any noticeable symptoms and it actually is caused due to some abnormal changes in the cells and certain changes appearing in the form of lesions could become cancerous.

High Risk HPV Treatment

Just as in the case of cervical cancer, PAP smear and HPV can also be related when it comes to diagnosis of high risk HPV. PAP smear test is useful in determining the infection as it detects abnormal changes in the cell in the form of precancerous lesions. The treatment of course depends on the extent of problems caused by the virus. Those detected with a high risk HPV infection with no lesions may not necessarily require a treatment and regular check ups could be enough to check the recovery of the condition. By far high risk HPVs clear off naturally without any treatment and if cervical lesions that can be linked with this condition seems to be present, treatments such as cryotherapy, electro-excision and laser are used.

Although a vaccine named Gardasil was introduced for HPV in the year 2006, the safety of it has not yet been determined, especially, in the case of high risk HPV and because of the uncertainty of whether the vaccine could lead to miscarriages, it is also not recommended for pregnant women.