Understanding Human Papillomavirus and cervical cancer.

 
"You can get so confused 
that you'll start in to race 
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace 
and grind on for miles across wierdish wild space ..." 
--Dr. Seuss 

Indeed, charting a course through the HPV maze can be confusing. Once fairly obscure, genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has become much more widely known--if not completely understood. It has been at the heart of political and scientific research and debate and a source of media attention.

Human Papillomavirus is a nearly universal STI that most sexually active Americans are thought to contract at some point, though most are never diagnosed clinically. At any one time, about 20 million people are infected with HPV although most will have no visible symptoms and are unaware that they are infected. The increased awareness of HPV is driven largely by new diagnostic methods (such as HPV DNA testing), the prospects of prophylactic vaccines looming on the near horizon, and its role in sexual health politics.

HPV--THE BASICS

Genital HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States. About 6.2 million people get genital HPV each year. It is estimated that about 80% of sexually active people have been infected with HPV at some point in their lives.

HPV is a group of DNA viruses that infect the skin. There are well over 100 different types, many of which are associated with benign lesions such as common warts of the hands and feet. About 30 HPV types are associated with anogenital skin and sexual transmission--of these, some are "low-risk" HPV types that can cause lesions such as genital warts, which are usually harmless. Of greater concern are the "high-risk" types that can lead to abnormal cell changes (most often detected of the cervix). Most HPV infections resolve spontaneously and generally do not lead to health complications.

Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Outside of sexual abstinence, the surest way to prevent HPV (and other…