Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for HPV infection which is considered to be a sexually transmitted disease. It does not affect the sexual life of the infected person, but it can be transmitted to the partner. The transmission occurs when there is a contact with an affected part of the skin or mucosa (most often in the anogenital area, but in other areas too).


Using a condom significantly decreases the rate of transmission, but not as significantly as in other sexually transmitted diseases, because the virus might be transmitted through the skin too. It is important to identify the type of the HPV, because different types are associated with different conditions. Certain viruses are responsible for genital warts, others for cervical cancer, and different types only cause common warts on the skin.


The HPV itself does not affect fertility or pregnancy, but it increases the risk of cervical cancer which can affect pregnancy.
HPV transmission through oral sex is possible.


HPV vaccination tries to protect a woman from getting infected in the first place by stimulating the immune system to create antibodies that would kill the virus before it spreads. Once the body is infected with the virus, it might stay dormitory (inactive) or express itself in the various skin or mucosal areas. However, absence of skin or mucosal presentation of the HPV does not mean that the virus is completely out of the body. It is just inactive and the chances for transmission are lower.