Papilloma
Medical centre authorised by the Generalitat de Catalunya
Servicio
Papilloma
The papilloma virus is a Sexually Transmitted Disease caused by a virus of the family of the Papilomaviridae. Today is the most infected STD in the world,since it is estimated that about 25% of the population is infected the first time they have sex.
There are more than 200 types of viruses, but only 2 types (16 and 18) are the cause of more than 70% of cases of uterine cancer. Both men and women can be infected in the same way by this virus, in addition, many cases have been described in which a high-risk strain has evoked in a cancer of the pharynx, rectum or penis.
Genital Papilloma infections are very common. In fact, almost all sexually active people get HPV at some time in their life (almost 90%). Most people with HPV have no symptoms and feel perfectly well, so they generally do not even know they are infected. Therefore, we can affirm that the majority of infections are totally harmless.
If you receive a Positive result for a high-risk strain, you should follow up on any morphological change at the cellular level.
VACCINES
The Papilloma vaccine is becoming increasingly common and in many centers they begin recommending them especially to men and women between 9 and 26 years old. Three doses are administered separately and no side effects have been reported at this time.
The HPV vaccine is not considered a treatment, that is, if you have already been diagnosed with some strain for Papilloma, the vaccine will not cure you, the only thing that will cause you is to avoid infecting other strains of the virus.
Also, many women believe that if they have already received the vaccine they can avoid having their annual cytology, and that is a serious mistake. In the control cytology, not only is HPV looked at, but also look for any change in the morphology or functionality of your cells that could cause cervical cancer.
TREATMENT
First of all you have to know how to differentiate between warts and papilloma, since nowadays there is no treatment to expel the papilloma virus from our body but if it has manifested in the form of warts we can treat them using a technique called Cryotherapy.
In case of having received a Positive result for a strain of High Risk, the patient should make a more exhaustive follow-up and have a quarterly or biannual control over the evolution of the virus.