About HPV screening

About HPV test

The human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, which is currently the most common sexually transmitted disease, spreads from person to person, and proliferates in the epithelial cells of the skin and the mucous membrane. The infection spreads by close contact of the skin-mucous membrane, or less fequently through infected tools, or articles of personal use. The majority of infected people are unaware of having it, since in the beginning, HPV does not cause either symptoms or problems. In these cases, the presence of the virus in the epithelial cells can only be detected by HPV screening.
 

The process of HPV testing

For the laboratory examination, that is, for the HPV test, we take an epithelium scraping with a cytological brush from the examined area. Then, we put the sample in a special transport solution, and send it to a molecular biology laboratory, where the infection is verified by the detection of the HPV DNA. The laboratory can not only verify the presence of the HPV DNA in the sample, but it accurately determines its type or types, as well  (it can happen that we find multiple infections, especially in the younger age groups it is not uncommon to be infected by 2, 3, 4, or even 5 types at the same time!)
Among the more than 150 types of HPV, there are about 40 that cause a disease on the genital organs, which can be differentiated as follows:

• types with high risk of cancer:  HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73 and 82
• types with moderate risk of cancer: HPV 26, 53 and 66
• types with low risk of cancer: HPV 6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 70, 72, and 81