Frequently Asked Questions about HPV

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted viral infection. Nearly all sexually active people are infected with HPV within months to a few years of becoming sexually active. Around half of these infections are with a high-risk HPV type.

One can get HPV by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has the virus. HPV can be passed even when an infected person has no signs or symptoms. Anyone who is sexually active can get HPV, even if you have had sex with only one person. One can develop symptoms years after you have sex with someone who is infected. This makes it hard to know when you first became infected.

• Age – e.g. Genital warts tend to happen in a teenager or young adult.
• A weak immune system – If one’s immune system is weakened from illness, conditions like HIV (Human Immunedeficiency virus), or taking immunosuppressant medications
• Skin damage. Warts are more likely to occur where skin has been cut open or injured.
• Touching infected surfaces. Touching a wart or a surface that HPV has come into contact with, can increase likelihood of infection.

There is no treatment for the virus itself. However, there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause e.g. genital warts, gervical precancer and other HPV-related cancers.

In the case of a person getting affected, specifically by genital warts, symptoms may take one to three months (or longer in some cases) to appear.

Research has found that it can take 10 to 20 years, or even longer, for HPV-infected cervical cells to develop into a cancerous tumor.

Consult your doctor for the recommended age to take HPV vaccine