HPV stands for human papillomavirus, an extremely common virus family with more than 100 strains, according to the Mayo Clinic. HPV infections can cause warts and similar lesions. Anyone who has ever had a wart has had HPV. Although most types of HPV are harmless, some strains causing genital warts can eventually cause cervical cancer.
Infection
Most HPV infections occur during skin-to-skin contact, according to the Mayo Clinic. HPV can also be sexually transmitted or passed from mother to child during delivery. Once in the body, the virus can cause warts or lesions immediately, or it can lie dormant. Planned Parenthood points out that this makes it impossible to know when the infection occurred or who transmitted it. There is no cure for HPV, but in most cases, the immune system rids the body of the virus in eight to 13 months, says Planned Parenthood.
Genital HPV
Like other forms of HPV, the viruses that cause genital warts spread during sexual activity. Oral sex can also spread HPV strains that cause oral infections--cold sores--or upper respiratory infections. Latex condoms help protect against contracting HPV, but they do not entirely prevent its transmission, warns the Centers for Disease Control.
Maternal Transmission
The Mayo Clinic says that HPV-infected pregnant women can transmit the virus to their babies during delivery, but this is rare. Infected babies can develop upper respiratory problems or genital lesions from the HPV infection.
Statistics
According to the Mayo Clinic, most children have been exposed to the HPV strains that cause common warts, although most do not go on to actually develop warts. More than 20 million people in the United States are infected with strains of HPV that cause genital warts, according to the Mayo Clinic. Planned Parenthood says that half of all men and three quarters of all women in the United States have had sexually transmitted HPV at some point in their lives. The Centers for Disease control estimates that at any point in time, about 1 percent of sexually active adults in the United States has HPV.
Warning
Many people who are asymptomatic never realize that they are infected, says the Mayo Clinic. But asymptomatic carriers of HPV can still transmit the virus to other people. People who were previously infected can be re-infected, and people infected with one type of HPV can also catch another type. Condoms can help reduce but cannot entirely prevent the risk of contracting genital warts. For other types of HPV, good hygiene practices such as frequent hand washing, not sharing personal items and wearing shoes in public locker rooms are the best defense.
