HPV - a Sexually Transmitted Infection

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• 0:04Introduction
• 0:27Types of HPV
• 0:49How HPV spreads
• 1:36Most people clear it
• 1:59How common HPV is
• 2:45Check-ups and prevention

Full transcript

1. 0:04Introduction

   Hi, I'm Dr. Taz Varkey. Today I'd like to revisit a topic I've discussed in a prior video, specifically HPV. This is, again, a sexually transmitted infection, and it's important because it can cause cervical cancer. The reason I'm covering it this week is I've also covered other STIs this week, and I think this is an important one that many people don't understand.

2. 0:27Types of HPV

   HPV comes in many different types. We've identified over 150 different strains, and we've categorized them into low-risk and high-risk strains. The low-risk strains can cause genital warts, but the high-risk strains can cause cancers. Most commonly the high-risk HPV strain can cause cervical cancer, but it can also cause vaginal, vulvar, anal cancer, mouth and throat cancer.

3. 0:49How HPV spreads

   So it's important to understand it. The scary thing is it can be transmitted just through skin-to-skin contact, so even if your partner is using a condom, you can still catch any of these low-risk or high-risk strains, because it's all about skin-to-skin contact. So wearing the condom does reduce the risk of getting the infection but doesn't prevent it 100%, because it can be transmitted if the labia and the scrotum are touching during sex.

4. 1:12

   It can be transmitted through very intimate contact, touching each other, or even oral sex. And this is important because many people are under the impression that using condoms prevents 100% of sexually transmitted infections, and that's not true. The good news with HPV is most times when a patient gets infected with HPV, specifically with women, it's cleared from your system within one to two years of catching it.

5. 1:36Most people clear it

   90% of young healthy women will clear it from their system within about a year, but sorry, not a year, after about two years. 80% will clear up by the end of one year. So that's why thankfully we don't see a lot of people running around with cervical cancers or any of these other cancers we've mentioned, but when it does occur, it's due to HPV in the case of cervical cancer especially.

6. 1:59How common HPV is

   So it's also important to understand that this virus, the high-risk HPV virus, is prevalent. As I mentioned, there's 15 different strains, and in any given moment as many as 30 percent of the population, sexually active population, carries one of those 15 strains.

7. 2:22

   So there's scary news here, which is that this virus is very common, one in three people have it that are sexually active. Two, it could be transmitted even with condom use. And three, it causes cervical cancer. The good news is most of you guys are gonna clear this virus on your own within one to two years of catching it.

8. 2:45Check-ups and prevention

   But in case you don't, that's when you need to go in for check-ups, and the doctor will do Pap smears and check for HPV, and if that comes back abnormal, will do other procedures to look for precancerous cells of the cervix. In terms of prevention, the main thing to do is consider the vaccine, which I've already talked about in another video and other episodes.

9. 3:06

   Condom use helps, but it's important to not have casual sex and multiple partners, to try to minimize the number of sexual partners you have to reduce the chance that you'll be exposed to this virus. So that's it, I hope this was helpful. Please be safe, and thank you for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe.