HPV: Should you be worried?
AT age 21, and while in college, *Beth was diagnosed with Human papillomavirus (HPV). At the time of the diagnosis she was still a virgin, but would often play ‘hanky-panky’ with her boyfriend.
After noticing a wart while having a shower, she consulted with her doctor who diagnosed HPV. It is, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common sexually transmitted infection, and nearly all sexually active men and women will get it at some point in their lives.
Changes in a woman’s cervix are often caused by HPV, and HPV infections can lead to cervical cancer and genital warts.
Gynaecologist Dr Charles Rockhead said HPV goes into cells and takes over the cells’ DNA, mortalising the cells. While some warts are associated with low-risk HPV and tend not to transform into cancer cells, doctors can’t tell whether the wart is high-risk or low-risk without conducting a DNA test on the wart, he said.
“It is best if you go to the local lab — Caribbean Genetics at the University of the West Indies — which does testing and can tell you if it is a high-risk or low- risk wart, but just by looking you can’t tell,” Dr Rockhead said.
He maintained that immunisation is the only thing that can lower the risk of contracting HPV.
Currently there are two major vaccines that are used to prevent HPV — Cervarix and Gardasil. They are both approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Dr Rockhead cautioned that although having protected sex is the best way to prevent HPV, it does not mean you won’t get it. Areas of the genitals not covered by the condom can be a concern, and the disease is highly contagious and can be caught by touching (even with hands), fondling and cuddling.
