The human papilloma viruses (HPVs) are a group of common infections. It can affect the skin and the moist lining inside parts of the body (mucous membranes).

There are more than 100 types of HPV. Most sexually active women and men will be infected at some point in their lives, and some may be repeatedly infected. More than 90% of the infected populations eventually clear the infection. Usually, the virus does not cause any damage and there are no symptoms. Most people do not know they have it.

HPV spreads from person to person on the skin during sex. The virus can live on the skin around the whole genital area. It passes easily from person to person during any type of sexual contact, including skin-to-skin genital contact, or sharing sex toys. 

Cervical cancer is by far the most common HPV-related disease. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer can be attributed to HPV infection. Although most HPV infections clear up on their own and most pre-cancerous lesions resolve spontaneously, there is a risk for all women that HPV infection may become chronic and pre-cancerous lesions progress to invasive cervical cancer.

This is what the test will measure:

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the name of a very common group of viruses. HPV infection is a viral infection that commonly causes skin or mucous membrane growths (warts) around the mouth, throat or genital area. These infections are often transmitted sexually or through other skin-to-skin contact.

There are more than 100 varieties of HPV and, while they rarely cause any problems, some types can lead to cancer. And, as they don’t usually create any symptoms, this can be difficult to diagnose without proper testing.