What threat does the human papillomavirus pose to men?

Papillomavirus infection is one of the most widespread and dangerous sexually transmitted viral diseases today. Information about the infection is widely disseminated in the literature and the media, but, unfortunately, the emphasis is mainly on the threat that the papillomavirus poses to women - namely, the development of cervical cancer. However, papillomavirus carries a certain oncological risk for males, although to a much lesser extent. In men, papillomavirus can cause cancer of the anus and cancer of the glans penis. Today, every sexually active young person is obliged to know about this dangerous disease.

Predisposing factors and routes of infection with human papillomavirus

Human papillomavirus belongs to the Papovaviride family and has more than 60 types. Especially dangerous oncogenic types of human papillomavirus are oncogenic 16 and 18, they provoke the development of cancer. Human papillomavirus is a highly contagious infection. The disease is transmitted mainly through sexual contact, and the risk of contracting the papillomavirus even with a single sexual contact exceeds 50%. Much less often, infection can occur by contact-household. When it enters the human body, the papilloma virus can be in a latent, passive state for a long time, which is why a man may not have any clinical signs, but be a carrier of the infection and infect his sexual partners. Symptoms of the disease begin to appear against the background of a decrease in immunity,

Main clinical manifestations of human papillomavirus

The only symptom of the human papillomavirus may be the appearance of warts - a kind of skin growths. In men, warts are localized on the pubis, head and body of the penis, on the foreskin and scrotum, in the anal region. The danger of the papilloma virus in men also lies in the fact that, with a certain localization, warts can hide under the hairline for a long time and remain completely unnoticed, since warts do not provoke any unpleasant sensations, such as pain and itching. Often, genital warts appear on the genitals, which can merge into large groups and have the so-called “seaweed” appearance. Much less common are squamous, papillary and intraepithelial condylomas, and very rarely giant condyloma Buschke-Levenshtein.

Difficulties of the diagnostic process in human papillomavirus

Human papillomavirus diagnosis is a rather complicated process, since the disease can be asymptomatic for a long time. Often, the papilloma virus can be suspected only when the patient complains of a concomitant pathology of the genitourinary system. If genital warts are detected, a cytological examination of smears or biopsy specimens is performed, the presence of koilocytosis in which will indicate infection with the human papillomavirus. The gold standard for diagnosing papillomavirus is considered to be a polymerase chain reaction, with which you can not only confirm the presence of papillomavirus in the blood, but also determine its type.

Treatment of papillomavirus infection: how to destroy the papillomavirus

Human papillomavirus treatment should be comprehensive and begin immediately after the detection of the virus in the blood. The main goal of therapy is to reduce the titers of the virus to such concentrations at which its pathogenic effect on the body will be as limited as possible. For this purpose, drugs are prescribed that stimulate the body's immune system: immunomodulators. It often happens that when the immune background stabilizes and the concentration of the papillomavirus decreases, condylomas go away on their own. If this does not happen, destructive methods are used to eliminate warts: cryodestruction, laser therapy, diathermocoagulation, ozone therapy, electrosurgical excision of warts. It is important to remember that even with the disappearance of clinical manifestations, a complete cure for the papillomavirus is impossible, and there is a high chance of recurrence of the infection. Therefore, maintaining the normal immunological properties of the body is an important goal for all patients with human papillomavirus.