(HPV 16 is also seen as a cause of some oropharyngeal cancers.)

HPV-16 and HPV-18 cause 70 percent of cervical cancer and HPV 16 causes 90 percent of anal cancer. The high-risk HPV subtypes most likely to cause cancer are HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-31, HPV-33, HPV-45, HPV-52 and HPV-58. The strains of HPV that cause warts to grow on hands and feet, however, are rarely the same type that cause warts in the genital and anal areas. Warts may appear on the hands and feet or on the genital and anal areas. There are more than 150 strains of HPV and at least 40 HPV types that can infect the anus or genitals. The HPV family of viruses is called papillomavirus because they tend to cause warts, or papillomas-benign (noncancerous) tumors. Other health problems can result from HPV infection as well, including genital warts recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a rare condition where warts grow in the throat of babies who have been delivered through the birth canal of a mother with genital warts and other less common but potentially serious cancers, including cancer of the vulva, vagina and penis, and oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer that affects the back of the throat, base of the tongue and the tonsils. Notably, anal intercourse is not required for HPV to infect the anal skin cells. HPV can also lead to anal cancer in both men and women, a cancer that affects about 5,530 women and 2,770 men per year and causes 760 deaths in women and 520 in men and is on the rise. Screening by Pap and HPV testing can detect precancerous changes that can be treated to prevent cancer from developing. HPV is the cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancer, but cervical cancer is preventable. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 13,170 cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2019, killing about 4,250 women. However, when high-risk types of HPV persist, precancer and cancer may occur. If HPV causes cells to become abnormal, most return to normal on their own.

That includes low-risk types that may cause genital warts and high-risk types that may cause precancer and cancer. HPV is a skin cell virus with more than 100 identified types. The good news is, in most cases, HPV causes no symptoms or health problems and goes away on its own.

The CDC reports that 79 million people are currently infected with HPV. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people will become infected by at least one type of HPV at some point in their lives. Chances are, you have been infected by one or more types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and didn't even realize it. If the three letters H-P-V make you recoil, they shouldn't.

Can you get hpv from touching hands