What does the abbreviation HPV stand for?
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Human papillomaviruses
There are many different types.
💡 Did you know? Most people become infected with them.
7 questions · Health & Medicine
Human papillomaviruses, HPV for short, are among the most common sexually transmitted pathogens of all: most people become infected with them at some point in their lives, often without ever noticing. There are many different HPV types. Most are harmless or merely cause warts, such as the well-known genital warts. A few types, however, are dangerous, because over many years they can cause cancer: above all cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers in women worldwide, but also cancer in other places such as the penis, anus or throat. The German researcher Harald zur Hausen discovered the link between HPV and cervical cancer and received the Nobel Prize for it. From this insight came one of the great successes of modern prevention: a vaccine against the most dangerous HPV types. It is recommended for adolescents, ideally before their first sexual contact, and can prevent many cancers from the outset: making it one of the few vaccines that protect directly against cancer. Prevention is complemented by regular screening examinations, in which cell changes on the cervix are detected in good time, long before cancer develops from them.
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Human papillomaviruses
There are many different types.
💡 Did you know? Most people become infected with them.
During sexual contact
They are among the most common STD pathogens.
💡 Did you know? Often the infection goes unnoticed.
Warts
In the genital area they are called genital warts.
💡 Did you know? Most HPV types are harmless.
Cervical cancer
It is among the most common cancers in women.
💡 Did you know? Other cancers can also develop.
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