Infection with the HPV virus
1- The HPV virus, which mostly affects the genital organs in women, has different types, and our concern is more about the strains (strains: subgroups of a type of virus) that cause the patient to develop cervical cancer.
There are different types of HPV that appear as warts in the external genital area, but not all strains are pathogenic. The most famous pathogenic strains are HPV16 and 18; The rest of the strains are either harmless or do not have such power.
In general, if a person is suffering from the above-mentioned two strains, there is a possibility of cervical cancer; Of course, be careful that it may get infected, but not definitely.
2- How do women become infected with HPV type 16 and 18?
The most important reason for contracting this virus is the non-observance of marital health issues, meaning that if a woman has a husband and her husband is also healthy, she will never be infected with such a virus. Therefore, observing this principle is one of the most important factors in preventing this virus.
3- How do we know if we are infected with this virus or not?
Fortunately, nowadays, with PCR methods that perform cell analysis of patients, we can get to know about HPV infection and its type. This test is accepted in the science laboratory. If the type of this virus is one of the dangerous strains that have been spread, we are considered infected with this virus, but we do not necessarily get cancer.
Only a percentage of people with the high-risk type of this virus get cervical cancer, and the rest recover or can be treated.
4- Now if someone is infected with high-risk HPV, how should cervical cancer be prevented?
Fortunately, cervical cancer is one of the cancers that can be screened, which is called Pap smear.
When the slide is prepared from the cervix, we check whether the virus has been able to turn the cells into malignant or not.
This change of shape includes a simple dysplasia, that is, a change in the shape of the cell, which can be prevented at this stage of cancer.
Therefore, those who are infected with this virus should not express concern, but regular checks should be done by a doctor.
Whenever these cells change shape and become dysplasia, treatment should be done before they become cancerous. In this field, the best treatment is usually surgery.
5- The advice to the patients with HPV is that since cancer develops earlier in those who have a larger amount of the virus in their body, we recommend that they definitely prevent in this area and avoid intercourse with a person who is exposed to it. This is a risk (so-called high-risk people) to avoid.
It is also recommended to check pap smear in women over 21 years of age who have a marital relationship.
This post is written by jm30303030