What is HPV?
Posted by Walter on January 28th, 2010
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HPV is Human papilloma virus, this virus is responsible for the spread of common warts, a small, often hard, abnormal elevation on the surface of the skin that are mostly found on hands, around fingers, feet, and around the genital areas.
There are a lot of types of HPV. When infected by some type of this virus, it can cause small, painless, rough-surfaced warts that can be usually found on the fingers and around the face. There are some as well that grows really painful and itchy that may appear in the soles of the feet, which is called as plantar warts. Other types of HPV can cause infection on the skin covering the sex organs and opening of the anus, known as genital warts.
HPV can also be a threat to women because infection through this virus which causes warts as well as cervical cancer to develop. There are several numbers of viruses that can cause genital warts linking them to develop into cervical cancer, less often, cell cancer of the penis, vagina, anus and vulva (external genital area in women). Other types of HPV are also responsible for mouth and throat cancers.
Spreading this virus can happen when there is a direct skin contact from a person who is infected. Usually by wearing or using the things that the infected person has like, clothes, towel, slippers, hat, etc. As for genital warts, sexual intercourse with an infected person can be the cause of acquiring this disease.
