Due to all the media exposure in the press last year I have had hundreds of enquiries about this and Ladies are asking for good quality information which will help give them a far greater understanding of the virus.
I have been looking for some good quality links and will continue to add them regular so please, do check back to see the new information as it is added.
I think by far, the link to the information I am putting in first is one of the best I have seen and is easy to understand and explains HPV is a way we can all understand this Virus.
More importantly, it has been written by the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) and is good quality information, fully explaining HPV and what part of our bodies the Virus can affect.
The document, when opened looks like it is soley for Cervical Cancer, but you will soon see it mentions more than this in the document.
Quote:
"Some cancer-causing HPV types (particularly HPV-16) are also believed to cause a substantial number of other genital cancers, as well as some cancers of the mouth, throat and anus" The link is below.
This is a small virus which comprises about 100 types, some of which cause non-genital lesions such as common warts and some of which cause genital lesions, including genital warts. Those that cause genital warts (type 6) are not linked with cervical cancer but around 20 or so are, particularly types 16 and 18, and it is these that we are testing for. The virus replicates within the epithelium or mucosa of the cervix and sheds in exfoliated cells in cytology samples where it can be detected.
It is now very clear that when women have low grade abnormalities, only the HPV positive lesions are likely to have CIN. This means HPV negative women need not be referred to colposcopy and HPV positive women should be referred without the need for repeat cytology follow-up, which delays the final diagnosis.
HPV is tested for by probing the same cervical sample used in cytology for viral DNA.
This means that when a borderline or mild dyskaryosis is reported, the residual material left after the cytology slides have been prepared is used to test for HPV. The remaining cervical cells are processed such that any viral DNA in the cells can be detected.
It is generally accepted that the HPV infection is acquired through sexual contact. The epidemiology of HPV related cancer’s has for many years indicated increased risk in women with multiple partners and early onset of sexual activity. This fits with a sexually transmitted agent being involved in the process of carcinogenesis.
It is common for women to state that their partner is their only ever sexual partner and that their partner states that the woman is his only sexual partner. Theoretically, if two virgins form a faithful sexual relationship there ought not to be the opportunity to acquire HPV. Yet we know that women in some such relationships test HPV positive. When questioned about this, it is impossible to reconcile. HPV infections can persist for many years and it is not possible to be sure about when the infection took place or what is the true “provenance” of the infection. Certainly the commonest HPV types of relevance in cervical cancer are usually symptomless in both partners.
This can be a difficult area but usually a gentle explanation of the facts as we understand them suffices. Do not be tempted to say that if the woman has only had a single sexual partner that this means her acquiring cervical HPV is a sign of infidelity.
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are around 50% in women around the age of 20. In the majority of women the infection clears usually within a year and indeed protective antibodies may develop to prevent future infection by the same type. This does not always occur however, and it is not uncommon to acquire new HPV infections of a different type. In some women, probably around 20 to 30%, the infection persists, and it may do so for years. The longer the infection persists the greater the risk of
subsequent abnormality.
