Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a family of more than 100 common viruses. Most types of HPV are harmless, have no signs or symptoms and clear up by themselves. Some of the low-risk types of HPV can cause common skin warts and plantar warts (warts on the soles of the feet). Other types of the virus are sexually transmitted and affect the area on the genitals and the anus; some types of the virus can cause genital warts, while some high-risk types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer and have been linked to other genital cancers.
HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted viruses in Canada and in the world today. HPV is so widespread that more than 50 per cent of women and men will have this type of infection at one point of their life or another, and at any given time between 15 and 40 per cent per cent of women will have HPV. About the same proportion of Canadian men are believed to have HPV.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada, about 1,350 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year, and another 390 will die from the disease. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) states that thousands more women will be diagnosed with pre-cancerous conditions and more than 400,000 will receive abnormal Pap test results.
HPV can infect anyone who has had a sexual encounter, even without intercourse and penetration. The most common transmission is through vaginal, anal, and oral sex, or skin-to-skin contact of the genitals.
The types of HPV that can cause cancer are often a “silent infection”. They have no obvious signs or symptoms, and most people will not even know they are infected. For women, the main concern is infection of the cells of the cervix. These infections can lead to changes in the cervical cells that can be detected as the result of a Pap test.
