Today, HPV infection is one of the most common and important STIs (sexually transmitted infections), infecting a large portion of the active population on the planet. The peak of HPV infection occurs at the age of 18-25 years and decreases after 30 years, when the frequency of dysplasia and cervical cancer increases significantly, the peak occurs at 45 years.
The clinic conducts diagnostics of infection with the human papillomavirus virus, as well as procedures for the prevention of infection with sexually transmitted infections after regular sexual intercourse.
At least 50% of the sexually active adult population is infected with one or more types of HPV, and in most cases, genital HPV infection in them is unknown, subclinical or asymptomatic. Genital HPV infection is highly contagious and is contracted during the first few sexual intercourse; infection with one sexual intercourse occurs in about 60% of cases.
Risk Factors of Infection with Human Papillomavirus
Recent studies prove that HPV is a necessary but insufficient factor in cervical neoplasia. Risk factors for the development of this disease can be:
- cellular and humoral immune disorders
- unfavorable socio-economic status;
- sexual behavior;
- concomitant venereal diseases (herpes, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, syphilis, etc. );
- hypo- and avitaminosis;
- young age;
- smoking;
- pregnancy;
- dysbiosis faraj.
The virus is sometimes transmitted from mother to child both in the uterus and during childbirth. In addition, pregnancy is a factor that provokes the manifestation and growth of neoplasms, as well as their transition to cancer. This is due to a decrease in immune defenses and changes in hormone levels.
Often, a person has to face a situation when a patient is diagnosed with a high -risk oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV). As a rule, doctors immediately report that there is a risk of cervical cancer. Often, relatively aggressive treatment is immediately prescribed, biopsies are performed, however, in general, it is not clearly explained what actually happened, and what the future prognosis is. Therefore, if you have a high risk of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) detected by PCR, this does not mean at all you should panic. There’s nothing serious about this finding, it’s just a reason to undergo an appropriate examination.
Cervical screening, which aims to identify cancer -threatening human papillomavirus infections and associated cervical lesions, continues to be an important component of health care and every woman should remember about the need to "spread it".
How often to filter and when to start?
It is important to note that the largest number of cervical lesions, including severe ones, occur at an early reproductive age. Therefore, it is recommended to begin examination of cervical pathology as early as possible after the onset of sexual activity. Cervical cytology examination should be performed from the age of 18 or from the age of sexual onset. Only with this approach, the number of women whose disease is detected is slowly reduced.
What should be done to prevent the development of cervical cancer?
- Once a year, it is necessary to undergo an examination by a gynecologist with a mandatory examination of the cervix - colposcopy.
- A simple cervical examination is not enough - certain tests must be performed. That is, to answer two questions: do you have the human papillomavirus virus, and are there changes in the cervical cells that could potentially lead to the development of cervical cancer.
Often, in regular clinics and laboratories, simple cytological smears and smears by PCR are taken to determine the virus (i. e. , an analysis that only answers the question - is this virus or not). This analysis has several drawbacks that can significantly affect its accuracy.
Lack of conventional cytology and PCR smears:
Smears from the cervix are taken with a flat brush and the material is "smeared" on the glass. Where:
- the doctor may not take cells from the entire surface of the cervix;
- when applied to glass, the smear is obtained with an uneven material (in a thicker place, in a thinner place), which does not allow the cytologist to examine it fully and evaluate all the cells obtained correctly;
- the glass with the smear applied can be "clogged", which also affects the quality of the cell assessment obtained.
PCR results will show whether human papillomavirus is present or not. It can’t be used to assess the amount of this virus, and that’s important.
Therefore, at present, the most accurate diagnostic method isfluid cytology methods.
The essence of the method is that the material is taken from the cervix using a special comb, which, due to its design, allows you to capture cells from the entire surface of the cervix and from the cervical canal. Next, the brush is soaked in a special container with the solution. This solution "preserves" the cellular material collected by the doctor, prevents cell damage, allows one to overcome the "contamination" of bacteria and makes it possible to transport the collected cells to the laboratory in optimal conditions.
For doctors and their patients, the advantages of using such fluids are its resistance to temperature fluctuations, the ability to store cellular material for several years and the ability to perform additional or necessary tests for various genital infections, including genetic testing for human papillomavirus. . .
A more important analysis can be made of the solution produced by the cell - the determination of a specific protein. The determination of this protein makes it possible to explain the situation when identifying altered cervical cells, which have signs of indirect transformation. Detection of this protein indicates that the cell is severely damaged, and there is a high probability of its malignant transformation. The absence of this protein indicates that the defects in the cells are harmless and the possibility of malignant transformation is minimal.
All studies can be conducted from one bottle with liquid cytological material; the patient does not require additional visits to the doctor, which means that the implementation of simultaneous or sequential cytology and genetic detection of the virus, and, therefore, full examination of cervical lesions in this case is facilitated to the maximum.
The use of liquid methods to collect material to examine women on cervical infectious pathology is the most logical and economical approach. But most importantly, this new technology makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of cervical examination and not "miss" women whose lesions on the cervix have acquired the status of "precancer".
While studying new research techniques, a comparative analysis of traditional techniques and liquid cytology was performed. The results of the analysis of more than 100 traditional cervical smears, "suspicious" or so -called "atypical" cervical cells are found only in every fifth woman, and as a result of a new liquid cytological study - in every second woman.
A triple test like this allows you to analyze cervical cells with the highest possible accuracy and decide what to do next.
Such tests are important not only for women who have had changes in the cervix or been diagnosed with an oncogenic type of human papillomavirus. This test must be performed prophylactically once a year, in which case you can be sure that you will not miss the possibility of changes in the cervix.