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Question

Can you contact HPV by drinking after someone or kissing them, ect...? What exactly is HPV? I'm really confussed about it!

Answer 1

HPV (human papillomavirus) is the name of a group of viruses that include more than 120 different "strains" or "types". About 30 or so of these "strains" are sexually transmitted. Most types of HPV are harmless and do absolutely nothing, but some of them are responsible for certain kinds of warts and cancers.

Warts found on the hands, knees, elbows, knees, face, etc are all caused by HPV. These are NON-sexual kinds of HPV.

Genital warts and cancers are caused by sexual kinds of HPV. HPV can cause cervical cancer and RARELY penile and anal cancer, as well as a couple other RARE cancers. Cervical cancer is the main concern with HPV. About 10,000 women every year in the US are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 4,000 of those women die from it.

HPV is spread by sex (vaginal, oral, and anal) and by any kind of DIRECT skin to skin contact with the infected area. This is why condoms are not 100% effective in preventing the spread of HPV. Since the condom only covers the man's penis, and not his entire genital area, just the rubbing back and forth of the genital areas during foreplay or sex is enough to spread the virus. You can NOT get the virus from drinking after someone or kissing someone unless they have warts in their mouth (which is VERY rare).

There is no "cure" for HPV, although in most women the infection goes away on its own. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection.

There is a new vaccine called Garasil that protects a woman from 4 different kinds of HPV. Two of those kinds are responsible for 90% of genital wart cases and the other two kinds are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases.

Check out the links below for more information:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm
http://www.gardasil.com/
http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn.cfm
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/sexual-health/std/hpv.htm