HPV Human Papillomavirus Home Test

So what exactly is HPV anyway?

I went to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and looked up the term. This is what the site has to say:

“Human papillomavirus is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different strains or types.(…) Most people who become infected with HPV will not have any symptoms and will clear the infection on their own.”

So in other words there are many types and strains of HPV out there. The one that most are concerned about is Genital HPV.

Genital HPV infection is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).

“More than 30 of these viruses are sexually transmitted, and they can infect the genital area of men and women including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside the vagina), or anus, and the linings of the vagina, cervix, or rectum.”

So even though HPV can be sexually transmitted, you might not even have any symptoms of it! Some HPV will clear on its own, and some may not. There are ways to determine if you have HPV. I’ll report on this as I do more research.