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Real Housewives’ Leanne Brown on not giving kids HPV vaccine
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Around 50 to 79 percent of sexually active women have a lifetime risk of being infected with HPV and almost 40 percent of women are infected with HPV within two years of first sexual activity. What is HPV in women? Is it an STD? Express.co.uk chatted to Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Professor Stelios Doumouchtsis to find out.
HPV is the most common STI in the world, so it’s important to know the causes and risks.
There are more than 100 different types of HPV and most people will get some type in their life.
You don’t need to have sexual contact with lots of different people to get HPV, you can get it the first time you have sex.
You don’t need to have penetrative sex to get HPV – it is spread in lots of different ways.
The NHS site explains: “Many types of HPV affect the mouth, throat or genital area. They’re easy to catch.
“You can get HPV from any skin-to-skin contact of the genital area, vaginal, anal or oral sex or sharing sex toys.”
What is HPV in women?
Most of the time HPV doesn’t cause any problems in men or women, but it can cause genital warts.
According to the Mayo Clinic, zoloft for postnatal depression genital warts appear as flat lesions, small cauliflower-like bumps or tiny stem-like protrusions.
In women, these warts occur mostly on the vulva but can also occur near the anus, on the cervix or in the vagina.
Warts tend to appear on the penis and scrotum or around the anus in men.
Warts tend to appear on the penis and scrotum or around the anus in men.
HPV can also cause abnormal changes in the cells that can sometimes turn into cancer.
Some types of HPV are more linked to cancer than others, and cancers linked to high-risk HPV include:
- cervical cancer
- anal cancer
- cancer of the penis
- vulval cancer
- vaginal cancer
- some types of head and neck cancer
There is no treatment for HPV, but most HPV infections are cleared by your body within two years and don’t cause any problems.
You’ll only need treatment if it develops into genital warts or causes changes to the cells in the cervix or, of course, if you get cancer.
You can significantly lower the risk of HPV by getting vaccinated and using a condom, but you can’t ever be totally protected
Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Professor Stelios Doumouchtsis said: “In England, girls and boys aged 12-13 years are routinely offered the first HPV vaccination when they’re in school year eight.
“The second dose is offered six to 24 months after the first dose.
“The vaccine is available, however, for anyone up to age 25 and offers lifelong protection against a number – although by no means all – strains of the virus. Therefore, there is no ultimate protection against HPV.
“As with STDs, condoms offer an additional level of defence although again, you should not consider yourself to be 100 percent protected.”
How do I know if you’ve had HPV?
Most of the time, people don’t even know they have HPV.
Professor Doumouchtsis said: “In many cases, it will silently leave your body within two years without any treatment, meaning you will never know you even had it.”
So how can you tell if you’ve had it? Well, there are no blood tests for HPV but HPV testing is part of cervical screening.
Professor Doumouchtsis said: “HPV testing is carried out on women as part of cervical screening so it’s important to have regular smear tests.”
During the screening, a small sample of cells is taken from the cervix to test for HPV.
He added: “Men who have sex with other men can also request a regular anal screening, to identify any warts or cell abnormalities as early as possible.”
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