To add to the STD discussion...HPV

[daisy girl]

I was just watching the ad for the HPV vaccine (you know the "one less" commercial) and decided to do some research on it. I was very surprised to find out that it is a common STD and there are a bunch of varieties of it. So...I decided to create a poll.

[JustAskJulie]

This is from the CDC website:

The HPV test on the market is only used as part of cervical cancer screening. There is no general test for men or women to check one’s overall “HPV status.” HPV usually goes away on its own, without causing health problems. So an HPV infection that is found today will most likely not be there a year or two from now. For this reason, there is no need to be tested just to find out if you have HPV now. However, you should get tested for signs of disease that HPV can cause, such as cervical cancer.

Genital warts are diagnosed by visual inspection. Some health care providers may use acetic acid, a vinegar solution, to help identify flat warts. But this is not a sensitive test so it may wrongly identify normal skin as a wart.

Cervical cell changes (early signs of cervical cancer) can be identified by routine Pap tests. The HPV test can identify high-risk HPV types on a woman’s cervix, which can cause cervical cell changes and cancer.

So basically short of having genital warts (or cervical cancer) you aren't likely to be diagnosed as having HPV from the sounds of it.

Then again maybe that was your point with the poll, to see how many people THINK they KNOW they don't have it.

A little more from the CDC website:

Approximately 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and another 6.2 million people become newly infected each year. At least 50% of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.

[SW_PA_Couple]

As Julie has just pointed out, you don't necessarily need a test to know. A dermatologist can take just one look at a wart and be pretty sure if it is the particular typed caused by HPV. Lack of a wart is not, on the other hand, evidence of lack of an infection. No reliable lab test for men so none of the choices presented in the poll would relate to me.

Bringing up STDs is worthwhile. People should not be given the chance to say they were not forewarned.

~Michael

[Thron&Thor]

The LSU Medical School did a very good study about the campus sexual health about 3 years ago on HPV and found ~80% OF THE ENTIRE COLLEGE POPULATION WAS INFECTED. Basically, the ability of the body's immune system to resist and clear the virus from the body is a function of age and health. Females under the age of 22 do not have a fully developed immune system strong enough to clear the virus after transmission...that is the target population for the vaccine to be effective and females over that age gain little beneift from the vaccine if infected even though they will give the vaccine up to age 32. For male's health there is no known reason to vaccinated...but vaccinating young males before they start having sex will prevent them from become carriers as most are from the LSU study.

Otherwise, most women and men clear the virus with a good immune system. So testing for the HPV's just does not warrant much benefit so making sure young girls/women get the vaccine is the best soultion before having sex, either oral or vaginal or...

I personaly know 5 daugthers of friends of mine who have developed cervical cancer from the HPV virus family due to infection from oral/intercourse starting at age 13 thru 16. All have required surgery and I have a realtive who is now dealing with it at age 24 after being diagnosed at age 19 with cervical cancer who is getting the vaccine anyway.

Your body is attacked all the time by viruses and the sheer number of STD's is actually in the 100's where testing has shown no real benefit so only the most aggressive ones requiring medications to clear have made the top of the list...all the others are usually handled by your immune system and cause no lasting harm.

So by now if you are truly swinging your body has already experienced the virus and developed immunities and cleared it out...

[daisy girl]

I friend of mine had dysplasia from HPV when she was 24. I remember her having to have the cells frozen and then having some radioactive thing inserted for a few weeks. She had a difficult time becoming pregnant but now has two lovely children.

This was over 10 years ago and we have learned a lot more about HPV. I think the biggest risk is cervical cancer...that is why we all need regular pap tests

[FlexandStam]

So, If I understand Julie's input (There is no general test for men or women to check one’s overall “HPV status.” from the CDC anyone who answers "Yes, I know my status and I am negative" is just guessing, right?

[JustAskJulie]

Originally Posted by FlexandStam

So, If I understand Julie's input (There is no general test for men or women to check one’s overall “HPV status.” from the CDC anyone who answers "Yes, I know my status and I am negative" is just guessing, right?

that is my guess!

BTW, to the board!

[tribbles]

My guess is anyone who thinks they are negative, has to be female and had a recent PAP test where the types of HPV that are tested for then, were done and she was given a result that said she was negative.

[50sLady]

At Planned Parenthood, when you are over 30 and have a pap test done, they test for high risk HPV too. If you have abnormal cells and high risk HPV, you are sent for a colposcopy. Biopsies are taken from the abnormal cells.

They do not test for low risk HPV...the strains that cause warts...because they are not a risk for cervical cancer.

HPV usually clears the body in a year, but it could be earlier or later than the year.

HPV is a skin to skin virus, so condoms may not help to prevent transmission.

[good times]

I agree with Julie, their is no general test for all strains of HPV, so their isn't really any way someone could answer that they know for sure that they don't have, or have never had it.

[mr_n_mrs_oz]

The only way men would know if they had HPV was if they had warts from the strand that causes warts which I must clear up not all HPV causes warts the most common HPV that I have seen is the cervical cancer HPV and men will never know if the are carriers of the virus and by the time we are 45 over 80% have come in contact with HPV

[highlander]

There does exist a PCR test for presence of HPV DNA. That test is sometimes used for men-however the use of that test in men is not FDA approved. It isn't clear just what presence of HPV in men means beyond that if men are HPV+ they can infect other people. Some researchers think that HPV+ men may have a higher chance of some cancers-but that research is still emerging.

I was looking around a while back. The PCR test for HPV is available for men-but it was kind of expensive(i.e. more than a panel for every other STD from AIM).