Human papillomavirus: treatment and prevention

Human papillomavirus( HPV), or papillomavirus, is an extremely common infectious viral disease transmitted from person to person by sexual or contact-domestic routes.

According to medical statistics, it infected more than 50% of the world population, especially people with a weak immune system are affected.

What is human papillomavirus ^

Human papillomavirus is the common name for a large group of viruses, which includes more than 100 varieties. HPV infection occurs most often through sexual intercourse with unprotected intercourse and during childbirth from mother to child, however it is possible to get infected, though less often, by contacting the damaged skin with the virus and through personal hygiene products( scouring pads, towels, etc.).

Physicians claim that 75% of the adult population is a healthy carrier of the papilloma virus, as many of its species are infected by children in children's groups. However, until clinical manifestations, that is, the appearance of warts, papillomas and genital warts, it does not always happen. In addition, the overwhelming majority of infected children and young people( mainly up to 25 years old) develop papillomas and warts without treatment, that is, on their own.

The fact that papilloma - a virus that does not penetrate deep into the body and into the blood, but settles exclusively in the upper basal layer of the skin. Therefore, if an infected person has strong and powerful immunity, he will expel HPV and the papillomas will disappear without treatment.

If you are infected in adulthood and his expulsion does not occur within 1 to 3 years, then you become his chronic carrier. In this case, with the virus, most likely, you have to put up all your life, since the treatment, completely killing it, scientists have not yet been invented.

The incubation period of papillomavirus infection most often lasts several months, but in some cases it can increase to several years. It is not uncommon for HPV to live in the body for many years, sometimes from birth, without knowing, and is manifested for the first time in old age, under the influence of any unfavorable factors that provoked a decrease in immunity.

Therefore, it can be said with certainty that, as with the emergence of other viral and fungal infections( herpes, thrush), the appearance of papillomas and condylomas indicates a decrease in immunity and begins only when the defenses of the body weaken to such an extent that they become incapablecope with the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. According to the latest data, even the formation of calluses on the legs occurs with the participation of papillomavirus.

Activation of papillomavirus in which the latent course of the disease passes into the clinical stage is facilitated by frequent changes in sexual partners, urogenital infections( herpesvirus, chlamydia, ureomycoplasmosis, mycoplasmosis), immunodeficiency, hypothermia, severe stress, depression, alcohol abuse and smoking.

How dangerous are papillomas and whether the treatment of human papillomavirus is mandatory ^

When asked whether papillomas and condylomas are dangerous and their treatment and removal is always required, doctors respond that it depends only on the degree of oncogenicity of the virus.

Classification of human papillomavirus by degree of oncogeneity:

• is low-oncogenic( 6, 11, 42, 43, 44);
• of medium oncogenicity( 31, 33, 35, 51, 52, 58);
• high degree of oncogeneity( 16, 18, 45, 56).

Sometimes, the same person can have several types of viruses at the same time.

Modern laboratory methods for the diagnosis of HPV, the most informative and sensitive of which is the PCR method( polymerase chain reaction), allow you to accurately determine the type of virus and its danger, that is, whether it refers to oncogenic types.

Different types of virus in the human body manifest themselves in different ways.

Non-oncogenic papilloma viruses

• So, it is known that type 2 virus is non-oncogenic, it affects mainly the skin( viral papilloma of the skin) and causes the appearance of warts and hanging moles on different parts of the body.
• The most common papillomas on the neck, under the arms, on the eyelids, under the mammary glands in women, but they can settle on the mucous membranes of the nose, pharynx, mouth, on the vocal cords, in the bladder, intestines and stomach.

Low-cancerous papilloma viruses

. Viruses 6 and 11 are characterized by a low risk of oncogenicity and provoke the development of papillomas on the mucous membranes of the genitals, called genital genital warts, or genital warts.

• In women, genital warts are most often located on the labia, on the cervix, in the vagina, in the perineum, urethra and anus.
• In men, they focus on the head and body of the penis, sometimes in the urethra, which provokes difficulty urinating, spraying urine and changing the shape of the jet.

Highly oncogenic papilloma viruses

The most unfavorable for oncogeneity are HPV types 16 and 18, often found in women with cervical cancer and in men with cancerous lesions of the penis.

For women who have these types of HPV, to prevent the development of the oncological process, mandatory vaccination is recommended, continuous monitoring and timely treatment.

Advantages of removal of papillomas and genital warts by laser and liquid nitrogen ^

Human papilloma virus, the treatment of which is carried out only in the case when there are its clinical manifestations, can not be completely removed from the body, unfortunately.

But, since the appearance of papillomas or genital warts indicates the activation of HPV, it is necessary to suppress as much as possible the activity of the viral infection and put it into a "sleeping" state, preventing relapse of the disease and re-emergence of tumors.

Treatment of papillomavirus infection consists of two stages:

• First, complete removal of papillomas( condylomas);
• Then, general restorative therapy is carried out, aimed at strengthening the immune system and preventing relapse. Therapeutic treatment includes the use of antiviral drugs, vitamins and immunostimulants.

Currently, papilloma removal is performed in many clinics in modern and effective ways:

• with a laser beam,
• liquid nitrogen( cryodestruction),
• by electrocoagulation( effect on the formation of high-frequency electric current).

The most widely used methods of laser removal and removal of papillomas with nitrogen.

Laser removal of papillomas

Laser removal by the laser on the neck, eyelids, under the breast, on the face and any other part of the body is done in a few minutes. The merits of the method of laser destruction is that during the laser removal of papillomas they disappear forever, as the virus dies from the high temperature of the laser beam.

After the procedure, a dry crust forms at the site of removal, under which healing takes place. After 10 - 14 days, it disappears on its own, while the skin area does not differ in color from the surrounding tissue.

Removing papillomas with liquid nitrogen

Removing papillomas with liquid nitrogen is carried out, on the contrary, due to very low temperatures( -196 ° C), while the tissue to be removed from freezing is completely destroyed and subsequently falls off;The skin beneath it loses its sensation and acquires a white color.

Advantages of this method - after the procedure of cryodestruction there is no scarring, anesthesia is not required, after removal of the tumor the wound quickly heals.

Removal of genital warts or in the perineum, especially with a large lesion area, large neoplasm or anal canal, often requires general anesthesia.

• The main condition of treatment - all warts should be removed in one session in order to prevent the possibility of re-infection.
• After removal of condyloma, the patient is prescribed intramuscular injections of analgesics for 5 to 6 days, as well as antiviral creams and ointments.

Prevention of HPV infection ^

Recently, many people, especially young people, have become very light-minded about sexually transmitted infections, hoping, if necessary, to modern methods of treatment and the help of powerful antibiotics.

However, this is a dangerous misconception, because viruses, including human papillomavirus, do not respond to antibiotics. In addition, they are very unpredictable and difficult to detect.

To the insidiousness of HPV is the fact that the use of condoms during sexual intercourse is not a sufficiently reliable means of protecting against papillomovirus infection, as well as from genital herpes, because there is enough contact between the skin and the mucous membrane for infection. Therefore, the prevention of infection with the virus becomes critical, especially for women.

If, for the most part, men become asymptomatic carriers of most types of HPV after infection, then the infection for women can have far more serious consequences - in 95% of women, HPV is diagnosed with cervical cancer.

PAD test

That's why every woman should visit the gynecologist and take a smear from the cervix at least once a year to detect changes in the state of the epithelial cells in the early stages.

This test, called "pap-smear"( PAP test), according to the doctors, has significantly reduced the incidence and mortality of women from cervical cancer in economically developed countries. In addition, infected women should regularly do colposcopy of the cervix( examination of the mucosa and tissue under the microscope), and if necessary, and cytological examination of suspicious areas.

According to many scientists, all hanging birthmarks, condylomas and other neoplasms need to be preventively removed, without waiting for their degeneration into the disease. For example, if you do not remove the genital warts in time, they can spread themselves far from the primary education zone and create new foci. In neglected cases, condylomas can grow together, becoming a kind of cauliflower, come off during intercourse, bleed and even stop walking.

Since the disease with human papillomavirus is prone to recurrence, after removal of tumors it is necessary to conduct mandatory control of cure and carry out a complex of measures that increase the activity of immunity and the overall resistance of the organism to viruses and infections.

For this, the following recommendations should be observed:

• to abandon bad habits( smoking, alcohol),
• not to use antibiotics and other medicines for self-care without acute necessity,
• to eat healthy food,
• to exercise regularly,
• to walk outdoors,
• whenever possible, to protect themselves from stress.