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Prevention and Treatment 

The association stresses that although HPV is considered a sexually transmitted disease, it is not transmitted through body fluids. Rather it is transferred through skin-to-skin contact. This means the use of condoms may not prevent spreading the disease. “It is possible that it can be spread without a visible wart,” Kissinger says. “Just because they don’t have external warts, you can’t know if a person has the virus or not.”

A report by the CDC in 2000 says studies repeatedly show women to have the highest levels of active HPV infection. Although there are fewer cases of HPV reported in men, the level of infection is similar to the level found in women. This means there are roughly the same amount of men infected as women, but they most likely do not know it.

Kissinger theorized the difference in the amount of change in genital cells between the sexes is because of differences in skin tissue. “A woman’s genitalia is made up of different tissue than the shaft of the male penis,” Kissinger explains. “The HPV virus is contracted through cracks in the skin. The female genital tissue is more prone to those cracks than the male’s, which is covered by tougher exterior skin.” D’Abreau says HPV is treatable, but it may not be completely eliminated.

Genital warts can be treated with prescribed topical creams and medication, but depending on the size and location, lesions may need to be removed using more invasive means. One way to remove lesions is to use liquid nitrogen in cryotherapy to “freeze” off the warts. Loop excision, or LEEP, cuts away the infected layers of tissue in the cervix with an electrical current. A third treatment method is laser surgery, which also removes the top layer of cervical tissue.

Shelly decided on the latter method for her treatment. She says the painless and simple outpatient surgery removed the dysplasia from her cervix easily. “I am such a big baby,” she laughs. “There is no way I could have done the LEEP. Afterwards, I wasn’t allowed to use tampons, go swimming or have sex for six weeks.”

There are many places around Kent where HPV can be diagnosed and treated. County health departments, free clinics, Planned Parenthood and the university health center all offer testing. DeWeese provides the prescription creams and oral medication, in addition to some cryogenic treatment. Planned Parenthood clinics offer the cream and chemical treatments. Private-practice ob-gyn specialists are the only option for most surgeries.

HPV can recur even after the lesions have been removed. Last summer, not even two years following her first surgery, Shelly once again was diagnosed with dysplasia and had to have another laser surgery. She worries that the infection will keep recurring.

“So far they have burned off one part of my cervix and then repeated it again,” she explains. “It sometimes worries me that my cervix will not be able to heal if I have to have surgery again. I don’t want all of this to prevent me from having children someday. That is my biggest worry: That my body will get to the point where it just can’t take anymore.” D’Abreau insists that people infected with HPV can still lead normal lives.

“They can still get married and have children,” she says. “Later on down the road, when they are involved in a monogamous relationship, they will have to make the decision to have unprotected sex and possibly expose their partner to the virus.”

Living with an STD

Having HPV is difficult, Shelly says, because of the attitude that surrounds STDs. “I would never come out and tell people I don’t know,” she says. “The only people that know are those closest to me. If there was a girl sitting next to me telling me she had an STD and I didn’t ... I can’t imagine how I’d think about it.”

“It’s something people don’t talk about. I can’t explain why, but it is such a taboo. I guess it’s because most people would view you in a negative way if you say you have it.” For a long time after her diagnosis and treatment, Shelly also felt bad about having an STD. “It kind of took me over for a while,” she says. “But then I starting doing my research on it. I spent a lot of time on the Internet reading up on what new findings are out there. My mom sends me whatever articles she can find about it. She’s very understanding, and we are both learning a lot.”

Now Shelly has to see her gynecologist every three months to make sure the dysplasia is in check. She is finally comfortable in her own skin and understands the nature of the virus that currently lies dormant within her.

“I eventually came to realize it could happen to anybody, and it is not who I am. It is a part of me but not who I am.”

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