Is HPV positive a high risk test?

HPV is a relatively common virus, and its main route of transmission is sex. All women who have sex may be infected with the HPV virus. The virus may be active in the oropharynx, anal and genital tract, skin surface or mucous membranes. You must pay attention to your personal living environment, avoid a chaotic private life, and strengthen personal hygiene management to avoid infection with the HPV virus and affect your health.

Not all HPV types cause cervical cancer

HPV is a general term that includes more than 130 subtypes. Scientists divide HPV into high-risk and low-risk types.

High-risk type: Persistent infection with 13 genotypes of HPV (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68) can lead to cervical cancer.

Low-risk type: Most HPV types do not cause cervical cancer, so they are called low-risk.

Everyone is a host for HPV infection

The main route of HPV infection is sexual contact. In daily life, any woman who has sexual life may be infected with the HPV virus.

According to statistics, approximately 60%-70% of women have been infected with HPV in their lifetime, with the peak infection rates being in the 18-28 and 40-44 age groups. There are no symptoms after HPV infection, and most of them can be cleared by the body's own immune system.

However, less than 10% of women are unable to completely eliminate HPV from their bodies and continue to be infected. HPV then integrates with the DNA of human cells, changing the properties of the squamous cells on the surface of the cervix, slowly eroding the normal cervix until it eventually develops into precancerous lesions or cancer. This process takes about 8-12 years.

If I am infected with HPV, do I need to take medicine?

At present, the treatment principle of HPV infection is: treat the disease, not the virus! That is: for lesions that are not confirmed by the naked eye or pathology, there is no need for treatment at all. In other words, treatment is only required when lesions are visible to the naked eye (such as genital warts) or pathologically confirmed to have occurred (such as cervical precancerous lesions CIN).

In short, instead of relying on drug treatment, it is better to enhance your own immunity and rely on your own immune system to eliminate the HPV virus.

Of course, in addition to this, we also need to do a good job of preventing HPV, such as getting the HPV vaccine, using condoms during sexual intercourse, etc. The most recommended is cervical cancer screening to fundamentally eliminate the possibility of HPV infection.

Cervical cancer screening mainly includes

In addition to the well-known electronic colposcopy and leucorrhea examination, cervical cancer screening mainly includes:

Cervical smear pathology examination (cervical cancer prevention smear)

Cervical cytology examination and diagnosis (can be used for the initial examination of cervical lesions. For those with more severe cervical lesions, TCT or HPV-DNA examination is recommended)

TCT

Cervical exfoliated cytopathology examination and diagnosis, cervical cancer screening

Testing

HPV 6/11, HPV 16/18-DNA qualitative

What is HPV virus? How is it transmitted?

1. Introduction to the virus

HPV virus (abbreviation of human papillomavirus) is a genus of papillomavirus A belonging to the family Papovaviridae. It is a spherical DNA virus that can cause proliferation of the squamous epithelium of the human skin and mucous membranes. More than 130 species have been isolated so far. The virus only invades humans and is not pathogenic to other animals. Once a person is infected, he or she will carry it for life.

Different types cause different clinical manifestations and can be divided into the following types according to the different tissues invaded:

(1) Low-risk skin types: including HPV-1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 15, etc., which are associated with common warts, flat warts, plantar warts, etc.;

(2) High-risk skin types: including HPV-5, 8, 14, 17, 20, 36, and 38, which are associated with epidermodysplasia verruciformis. Other malignant tumors that may be associated with HPV infection include: vulvar cancer, penile cancer, anal cancer, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer.

(3) Low-risk mucosal types such as HPV-6, 11, 13, 32, 34, 40, 42, 43, 44, 53, 54, etc., which infect the genital, anal, oropharyngeal, and esophageal mucosa;

(4) Mucosal high-risk HPV-16, 18, 30, 31, 33, 35, 39 and cervical cancer, rectal cancer, oral cancer, tonsil cancer, etc.

Biological activity: HPV is highly resistant and can withstand drying and long-term storage. It can be inactivated by heating or formalin treatment, so it can be inactivated by high-temperature disinfection and 2% glutaraldehyde disinfection.

2. HPV infection routes

1. Sexual transmission;

2. Close contact;

3. Indirect contact: through contact with the infected person's clothing, daily necessities, utensils, etc.;

4. Nosocomial infection: Medical staff fail to provide adequate protection during treatment and care, resulting in self-infection or transmission of the infection to patients through medical staff;

5. Mother-to-child transmission: It is transmitted through close contact between the baby and the pregnant woman’s birth canal.

1. Low-risk HPV infection

1. Benign skin manifestations

(1) Common warts: Papules the size of rice grains, with obvious keratinization on the surface, rough and uneven, thorn-like tips, and hard texture. The lesions may be single or multiple, and may gradually increase in number through self-inoculation. It often occurs in the hands, feet, etc.

(2) Diseases manifested in special parts:

Periungual warts: occur around the fingernails and toenails, and are characterized by thickening and keratinization under the nail.

Plantar warts: occur on the soles of the feet, and bleeding spots and black spots can be seen on the surface of the lesions due to pressure.

Filiform warts: multiple small, soft, thread-like warts that occur on the neck and eyelids.

Flat warts: They mostly occur on the face and are also common on the trunk. They are mostly flat papules 2-5mm in size, skin color or light brown, with a smooth surface, and are round or quasi-round. They are occasionally scratched due to itching, forming autoinoculation, or implanted along the surface of skin damage.

2. Benign manifestations of external genital diseases

(1) Genital warts (condyloma acuminatum): There are three states: typical manifestations, subclinical infection, and latent infection.

(a) Typical manifestations: Typical skin lesions visible to the naked eye: papilloma-like, cauliflower-like, granular, cockscomb-like, etc.

(b) Subclinical manifestations are difficult to identify with the naked eye and can only be observed with the help of a magnifying glass or acetowhite test. Histological and cytological tests show typical HPV pathological changes.

(c) Latent infection is when HPV enters the cells of the skin and mucous membranes and does not cause any clinical manifestations or histological abnormalities, but can be detected in the cells of the skin and mucous membranes through molecular biological methods, nucleic acid hybridization, etc.

Prone areas: Female vulva, vagina, cervix, around the anus, inside the anal canal, and urethral opening; male vulva, penis, testicular surface, urethral opening, around the anus, inside the anal canal, etc.

Rare locations: armpits, navel, between toes, under breasts, etc.

(2) Special areas: wart-like lesions on the surface of the oral mucosa, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, etc.

(II) High-risk HPV infection

1. Skin manifestations

There is information showing that epithelial tumors of the skin, such as Bowen's disease, basal cell carcinoma, Paget's disease, and squamous cell carcinoma, are also related to this type of viral infection.

2. Mucosal manifestations

Cervical cancer, anal canal cancer, tonsil cancer, oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, nasal cancer, esophageal cancer, etc.

Experts say that even if infected with HPV, most women will not develop cervical cancer because every healthy woman has a certain degree of immunity. Studies have confirmed that after being infected with HPV, the immune systems of most women can eliminate the HPV that enters the body. Only a small number of women who are unable to eliminate the HPV that enters their bodies, resulting in persistent HPV infection, may develop cervical precancerous lesions. Some of these patients will further develop into cervical cancer, and this process takes about 5 to 10 years. According to statistics, last year, a total of 2,640 cases of cervical precancerous lesions were screened and found at the Cervical Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, of which 110 were microinvasive cancers.

3. Women of childbearing age should undergo regular testing

Cervical cancer is a preventable and treatable disease. Women of childbearing age can determine whether they are infected by taking high-risk HPV tests. If the result is negative, it means you are not infected with HPV. Once the test result is positive for high-risk HPV, further cervical smear examination should be performed, such as Pap smear or liquid-based cytology (TCT) test. Women of childbearing age must not neglect annual gynecological examinations, including:

It is an important method for detecting cervical precancerous lesions and cervical cancer, especially for people at high risk of cervical cancer who are persistently infected with high-risk types of HPV viruses, and should not be taken lightly. In addition, women of childbearing age should also learn to pay attention to the "health alarms" issued by the body. Sometimes, although they are just "clues", they may contain hidden dangers.