Currently plaguing an estimated twenty million Americans, and attacking with approximately one million new cases each year, the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has erupted as an extremely contagious Sexually Transmitted Disease. At least 1/3 of college students have been reported as having HPV; about 2/3 of people who come in contact with it will contract the virus.

There are over one hundred different strands of this genital wart virus. Types 1, 3 and 5 can cause warts on the hands and feet of children. Types 6 and 11 can cause genital warts, while other types like 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35 may not cause warts but can cause changes to the cells of your vagina or cervix, such as Dysplasia. Some doctors have concluded only one of every one hundred carriers of HPV have actual genital warts, though all one hundred can pass the virus.

Warts of any part of the body are labeled as a strand of HPV, but not all strands or all warts like ones on the feet or hands can be passed to the genitals. There are two types of venereal warts, Condyloma Accuminatum and Condyloma Latum. Condyloma warts are growths, often looking like cauliflower and are found in the genital area around the regions of the vulva, urethra or anus. They can be painless but also can itch, burn and bleed. Both of these types of warts occur in a group, a cluster of warts. Condyloma Latum are reddish and moist warts that many times are linked to a syphilis infection. Condyloma Accuminatum is a pinkish to whitish wart always linked to HPV.

Like any wart, genital warts are passed on when the virus causing the wart is active, though this does not necessarily mean that warts are visible. Transmission of HPV is done through contact; HPV can be transmitted via all types of foreplay and intercourse, and by fluids. Using latex barriers with someone who has HPV will not necessarily protect you from contracting the virus through public hair or other contact. HPV is also spread through skin-to-skin contact. Spread from man to man, woman to woman, man to woman and through any sex which includes kissing, oral sex, fondling, touching, all intercourse positions via the vagina and anus, sharing sex toys, or sharing inanimate objects such as towels, HPV can be hard to escape.

Symptoms are visible as early as one month after contact with the disease, and as late as years after contraction. It is also possible to carry the virus indefinitely without any visible symptoms of the virus, especially for males. Some strands of HPV have the nasty habit of lying dormant in the system. HPV is often eluded to as the invisible virus, since many asymptomatic people have carried the virus and passed it on. The symptoms and visibility of the virus depend on the severity of the type of the Human Papillomavirus. Doctors are continuing to determine and categorize these strands.

Although warts are inconvenient enough, health risks of contracting the virus are not negligible either. In some cases HPV can lead to cancer of the cervix and cancer of the penis through cell changes. Some strands of the disease cause cancerous cells; it is necessary to monitor cell development carefully with your doctor. It is often deadlier for women, since viruses grow best in moist, warm environments as opposed to an extremity. Due to the risk of cancer from HPV, it is important to be routinely checked for the virus so that it can be monitored in the event that the test is positive.

The upside for females is the Pap test. This is a necessary protective measure for all sexually active women; the Pap test screens women for cancer of the cervix. Dysplasia is the appearance of abnormal cells on the cervix. It in itself is not known to cause health issues, but is considered to be a precancerous condition. The Pap test will detect dysplasia, and allows physicians to watch the condition once it is diagnosed to monitor its progress.

While men do not have such a test available to them for easier detection, the good news is that they are less likely to contract cancer causing strains than women are. Men by nature are less symptomatic, and since the penis is thick skinned, testing for cell changes is difficult and often leads to inaccurate test results. It is hard to obtain accurate results for a male without actual symptoms. However, high risk types of HPV such as cancer causing strains are uncommon in men. Penile cancer has been found to be infrequent in the states, and when it occurs, HPV is not always documented as the cause.

Besides Pap tests, a DNA-based test, The Hybrid Capture, can also detect HPV. Used more as a follow-up procedure rather than a primary screening choice, this test helps physicians in obtaining more information about the normalcy of a Pap test.

If you are diagnosed with HPV, there are treatment options. Putting chemicals on the infected area like Podophyllin, Condylox, or Trichloroacetic acid will kill and dissolve the warts. Freezing the warts off is also a popular treatment, as is cutting them off by using electric loops, lasers, or surgery. Aldara is a type of medicine that has to be digested in order to influence the immune system to kill wart cells. All treatments should only be under the direction of a doctor; they will not cure HPV, but simply negate some of the symptoms such as warts.

There is no way to fully prevent HPV; latex barriers have shown to be effective in preventing STD’s that are transmitted through fluid, but depending on how you are using them, do not always protect against viruses that are spread from skin to skin contact. Communication with your partner(s), honesty, and frequent testing can be crucial to maintain your health. Once diagnosed with HPV, sustaining a healthy immune system is necessary to monitor the virus, and therefore live a normal life.