The human papillomavirus (HPV) comes in more than 100 varieties. About 40 of these varieties can infect the genital areas of both women and men. And, unlike other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), you can’t prevent HPV by using a condom. All it takes is an intimate touch to spread the virus.
When your HPV test comes back positive after your annual women’s health exam, you’re naturally concerned. You’re even more concerned when you learn that HPV infection is the trigger for 99% of cervical cancer cases.
As part of National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, our caring and skilled nurse practitioners — Kelly Burrows, APRN FNP-C, and Lee Ann Garza, FNP — encourage you to get an HPV test as part of your well-woman care. We administer HPV tests and Pap smears (to detect abnormalities in cervical cells) at our Enrich Family Practice offices in Odessa, Texas.
If you’re positive for HPV, does that mean that you have cervical cancer? Not necessarily. Learning that you have HPV may even save your life. Here’s how.
Although it’s never a happy day when you learn that you have an infection — particularly one that could cause cervical cancer — HPV infections are very common among sexually active people. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that at least one out of every two sexually active people will have an HPV infection at least once in their lives.
Some types of lower-risk HPV can cause benign warts on your genitals. However, that’s a different type of HPV than the type that causes cervical cancer.
Even if you regularly practice safer sex, you could still end up with an HPV infection. Like herpes, HPV spreads through skin-to-skin intimate touch, including fingering or oral sex.
Many HPV infections go away on their own within a couple of years. However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore an HPV infection.
If you haven’t already received a Pap test that examines the cells on your cervix, you should get one after your HPV-positive results. An HPV infection increases your risk for cervical cancer, but doesn’t mean that you already have it. We use a Pap smear to see if the HPV has caused the cells on your cervix to develop cancerous changes.
When your Pap smear is normal, your doctor may not worry about the HPV infection. We may recommend more frequent Pap smears and HPV tests until the infection clears or causes cervical changes.
The one positive about having a positive HPV test is that early detection of HPV infections and cervical changes on your Pap smear give you a good chance of cure if you do have cervical cancer. When caught early enough, cervical cancer is highly curable.
If we see abnormal cells on a follow-up procedure to positive Pap and HPV tests — such as colposcopy — we remove them. Removing the abnormal cells prevents them from developing into cancer. And, if you do have cancer, we immediately start treatment so you can increase your risk of total cure.
You probably won’t have to worry about an HPV infection — or cervical cancer — at all if you’re eligible for an HPV vaccine. Gardasil-9 and other types of HPV vaccinations protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which account for most cases of cervical cancer. Gardasil-9 protects against several other HPV infections, too.
You can have your children vaccinated before they become sexually active, which protects them against future HPV infections. The recommended vaccine schedule is:
Kids aged 9-14 who already received two doses may need a third if they got their first two doses less than five months apart. After age 27, most women and men have already been exposed to HPV and so probably won’t benefit from a vaccine since their immune systems already guard against further infection.
If you’re sexually active, call us for an HPV test today. If your results are positive, call us for follow-up tests so you can stay safe and cervical cancer-free. Simply phone our helpful staff at 432-200-9052 or complete our online appointment form.
