8 Things You May Not Know About HPV

它是美国最常见的性病,但也是最不理的。在这里,关于HPV的一些令人惊讶的事实 - 从怪异的方式到真正需要HPV疫苗的人。

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人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)的图像
Most strains of HPV are symptomless, but a few of them can cause cancer. Thinkstock

human papillomavirus(HPV) garnered news headlines in 2017 when close to half of American adults were found to have this sexually transmitted viral infection.

Apparently, 45 percent of U.S. men ages 18 to 59 have genitalHPV感染according to astudy published in the June 2017 issue ofJAMA肿瘤学。In women, the prevalence is about40%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

这study was followed by areport, published in November 2017 in the内科年鉴,九分之一的男性感染了口服HPV,这可能导致头部,颈部和喉咙的癌症。

RELATED:口服HPV在男性中越来越关注

难怪HPV现在是医学研究的温床:这是非常普遍的,在许多情况下可以预防疫苗,并且在包括多种癌症中起着重要作用,包括cervical cancer在女性中。

But for all the buzz about HPV in the scientific community, experts worry that many people are still fuzzy on details about the virus — including how it’s transmitted, who is most at risk, and how to protect yourself from infection.

新奥尔良杜兰大学的妇科肿瘤学教授威廉·罗宾逊(William Robinson)说:“人们对HPV的了解太多,以至于人们对HPV的了解或误解。”在下文中,他和其他领先的专家阐明了最常见的HPV知识差距。

1.奇怪的是您可能患有HPV

HPV是最常见的sexually transmitted infection在美国:根据CDC,目前有7900万美国人感染了某种形式的HPV,每年有1400万感染了新的感染。

罗宾逊博士说:“如果您一直在性活跃,那么您至少有50%的机会患上了该病毒。”一些数据表明,超过80%的性活动女人会得到HPVat some point.

HPV实际上是150多个相关病毒菌株的伞术,其中大多数相对无害。其中约40个可以感染男性和女性的生殖器区域,较少的人可能会导致生殖器疣或癌症。

Most of the time, you’ll never even know you’ve had HPV, because most strains (except those that cause warts) are symptomless. And in 90 percent of cases, the immune system clears the virus naturally within two years, according to the CDC. But when HPV does not go away on its own, some HPV strains can cause a variety oftypes of cancer

与之同住的人艾滋病病毒更可能患有HPV感染可以持续存在,从而增加了患有HPV相关癌症的机会。

RELATED:HPV:与癌症的病毒联系

2. Condoms Can’t Completely Protect You From HPV

尽管避孕套可以降低您患HPV感染的风险,但它们不能完全消除它。

“The virus can live in the scrotum and the hair-bearing areas of the genitals,” says医学博士芭芭拉·高夫(Barbara Goff), the director of gynecological oncology at the University of Washington in Seattle, so any foreplay that involves skin-to-skin genital contact can transmit the virus. So can oral and anal sex.

“That’s why it’s so important for young people to get vaccinated for HPV, well before they become sexually active,” says Dr. Goff.

RELATED:8 Essential Facts About HPV Vaccines

3.如果您被感染,您目前的伴侣可能不怪

If you了解您有HPV(这最有可能在异常子宫颈抹片检查结果之后发生;大多数医生不会常规test for HPV否则),请不要得出关于您在哪里感染病毒的结论。

罗宾逊说:“一些患者认为他们的现任性伴侣将其交给了他们。”“但可能并非如此。40岁时患宫颈癌的妇女可能在[性行为]与第一个性伴侣发生性关系后不久被感染。”

这是因为HPV可以保持休眠状态多年,然后才能开始造成导致癌症的细胞损伤。HPV触发的癌症可能需要数年甚至数十年的发展才能开发。

4.如果您有异常的子宫颈抹片检查,则可能会增加由HPV引起的其他癌症的风险

大多数了解HPV的人将其与宫颈癌相关联,但是该病毒越来越涉及其他形式的癌症,包括头颈癌以及外阴癌,阴道, anus, and penis. Evidence suggests that women who have had cervical cancer or precancerous changes (known asdysplasiaGoff说,在子宫颈中,在身体其他区域的HPV相关癌症的风险更大。

这些其他与HPV相关的癌症仍然相当罕见,但它们的数字正在增加。这American Cancer Society估计2017年:

  • 在美国,有5,250名女性和2,950名男性被诊断出患有肛门癌。
  • 2,120名男性被诊断出患有阴茎癌。
  • 6,020名妇女被诊断出患有外阴癌。
  • 4,810名妇女被诊断出患有阴道癌。
  • 12,820名妇女被诊断出患有宫颈癌。

目前,尚无针对HPV相关癌症的既定筛查指南,但是研究人员正在探索如何识别高风险的人,以便可以尽早确定和治疗其癌症。

For individuals at risk of anal cancer, the anal Pap test can be used to check for abnormal cells in the anal canal. This test is not routinely offered to heterosexual women and men, but talk to your doctor about getting one if you’re concerned about your anal癌症风险

5. Smoking Raises Your Risk of HPV-Related Cancer

“吸烟会削弱免疫系统,这可以使HPV更加迅速地生长。”医学博士Sharyn Lewin,新泽西州Teaneck的圣名医院的妇科肿瘤学医学主任。如果您想防止休眠的HPV感染变成癌前或癌性的生长,踢你的香烟习惯今天。

6. The HPV Vaccine Isn’t Just for Girls

HPV vaccinenot only provides women with nearly 100 percent protection against cervical cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18 — which cause 70 percent of cervical cancers — but it also provides direct health benefits for men, including预防生殖器疣。尽管尚未做出确定的研究,但许多研究人员认为,男孩的疫苗接种最终将降低头颈和其他癌症的速度。

Gardasil 9, the HPV vaccine currently given in the United States, is approved by the FDA for use in females ages 9 to 26; males ages 9 to 21; and also for males ages 21 to 26 if they have sex with men, are transgender, or have low immune function (because of HIV, for example).

这general recommendation is for all girls and boys to be vaccinated at age 11 or 12, but the vaccine can be given as early as age 9, as well as in later years if a person did not receive the vaccine at the recommended age.

RELATED:包皮环切术可以防止HPV扩散吗?

7.即使您获得了HPV疫苗,您仍然需要PAP涂片

HPV疫苗不能防止所有可能的高危HPV,也不能防止在疫苗接种之前暴露于某人的任何菌株,因此仍然建议使用HPV疫苗的妇女进行子宫颈抹片检查。

As of 2017, the only HPV vaccine available in the United States is加达西尔9,防止HPV 16,18、31、33、45、52和58,所有这些都会引起癌症以及6型和11型,从而引起生殖器疣。两种早期的HPV疫苗Cervarix和Gardasil可以防止更少的HPV菌株。

8.疫苗不治疗HPV

这似乎很明显,但它具有重复:HPV疫苗仅是预防性的。它不会与已经获得该病毒的人打击病毒。这就是为什么它仅批准二十多岁及以上的人的原因;很有可能已经暴露于疫苗预防的HPV菌株。但是,研究人员目前正在研究接种26岁以上的妇女的价值。

HPV病毒没有治疗,尽管它可以自行消失。拥有的女人abnormal Pap test results可能建议等待并在三到六个月内进行重新测试,进行其他测试以进一步检查任何异常,或者有治疗以去除异常细胞。