Health and prevention: all about Human Papillomaviruses (HPV)

Abstract

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are a group of more than 200 viruses with a high incidence worldwide. They are crowned as the most frequent sexually transmitted infection and are especially known to be the main cause of cervical cancer. However, it is important to know that other cancers can also be caused by HPV infections and that there are a much larger number of human papillomaviruses that are not responsible for any kind of oncogenic disease. This article aims to present the diversity of HPVs including diseases, symptoms and main methods of prevention, as well as to debunk some of the most widespread myths about HPV infection.