Can you get HPV by using a public restroom? You may have some misunderstandings about HPV

In recent years, with the widespread screening of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the popularization of HPV vaccines, more and more people have begun to pay attention to and attach importance to HPV.

Some people who have been infected with HPV often have this question: "I was inexplicably infected with HPV. Could it be that I was infected in a public toilet or other place?"

01

The claim that HPV is contracted in public places is not credible

First, let’s understand how HPV is transmitted.

HPV is suitable for surviving in humid and warm environments. It is distributed on the skin and mucous membranes of many parts of the human body. It mainly causes micro-abrasions of the epithelial tissue, allowing the virus to bind to the HPV receptor, thereby allowing the virus to enter the cell through the medium and cause infection.

Several researchers went to saunas, indoor swimming pools, and schools with high traffic volume, and collected samples from wet floors, desks, chair surfaces, shower heads, and toilet surfaces from these different locations. They used the most authoritative methods to conduct repeated tests, but found no evidence of the existence of HPV. Therefore, the claim that contaminated toilet surfaces, door handles, towels, soap, swimming pools, and bathtubs can spread HPV is unfounded.

In addition, it is rare that HPV infection cannot be explained by doctors. Therefore, although HPV transmission methods other than sexual contact cannot be absolutely ruled out, this situation is rare.

02

HPV infection routes

The main ways of HPV transmission include sexual transmission, mother-to-child transmission, and contact transmission.

1. Sexual transmission

The main way HPV is transmitted is through sexual intercourse. During sexual intercourse, repeated friction between key female parts may cause local damage to the vulva, vagina, and cervix, allowing HPV to easily enter, greatly increasing the risk of HPV infection.

Therefore, women who have sex have a high risk of contracting HPV in their lifetime, with an infection rate of 50% to 80%. Having multiple sexual partners and having sexual intercourse too early (before the age of 17) are high-risk factors for HPV infection.

As long as you have sex, you may be infected with HPV, but about 80% of HPV infections in young women are transient, meaning that the virus can be cleared by the body's immune system within 12 to 18 months, just like the cervix has a "cold."

2. Mother-to-child transmission

Rarely, women with genital HPV infection in Asia and Africa can transmit the virus to their babies during childbirth, a process known as mother-to-child transmission. This may cause a rare form of infantile recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, in which warts may form in the throat or other parts of the respiratory tract, which, if untreated, can cause airway obstruction and be extremely debilitating [1].

3. Contact transmission

HPV can also be transmitted through close skin contact, but this close skin contact refers to skin contact with the vaginal area of ​​an HPV-infected person. Daily skin contact, such as hugging, shaking hands, sharing a toilet, or showering with an infected person will not spread the virus. Therefore, public bathtubs, swimming pools, etc. are not risk factors for HPV transmission (unless you have sex in the bathtub with your sexual partner).

Therefore, if a woman is infected with HPV, it is unlikely that she will transmit the virus to her family members in daily contact with them, but sexual contact with her husband may transmit HPV to her husband. However, this transmission has a small risk of causing disease to men, because men's external genitalia are exposed to the outside of the body, and the dry environment is not conducive to the survival of HPV.

Of course, exposure to HPV is by no means equivalent to infection with HPV. Only when one comes into contact with infectious virus particles and happens to have damage to the skin or mucous membranes (in many cases, such damage can be so small that it is invisible to the naked eye) will there be a possibility of HPV infection. This type of contact transmission is also the third largest route of infection besides sexual transmission and mother-to-child transmission [1].

03

Prevention of HPV infection

1. Daily life

In daily family life, you can pay attention to the following points:

Wash family members' underwear separately and soak and rinse in hot water or disinfectant.

After washing, underwear should be exposed to direct sunlight.

Hygiene products such as towels, bath towels, toothbrushes, etc. should be disinfected and isolated frequently.

Bathtubs, washbasins, and toilets should be cleaned and disinfected every day.

You can clean the washing machine regularly with disinfectant.

2. Sexual life

·Be faithful to a single sexual partner. The fewer sexual partners you have, the lower your risk of HPV infection.

·Change and wash your underwear every day.

·Keep clean before and after sex and urinate as much as possible.

·Using condoms during sex can reduce exposure to the virus. Therefore, using condoms correctly can reduce HPV infection and accelerate the clearance of HPV. When the HPV load decreases, the body's immune system can clear the virus more effectively.

3. Regular inspection

· Have regular gynecological examinations.

Actively participate in HPV monitoring.

4. Vaccination

HPV vaccination is globally recognized as a relatively safe, effective and cost-effective method to prevent HPV infection and its related lesions.

In short, although HPV can be transmitted through contact, it is completely unnecessary to worry too much about it. The possibility of contracting HPV in public toilets, public swimming pools and other places is very small.

We should raise our awareness of protection and take active protective measures in our daily lives to effectively avoid HPV contact infection.

References

[1] Kong Weimin. Cervical cancer and HPV vaccine. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2021.

Author: Fu Yajuan Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital

Review | Jia Xuemei, Chief Physician, Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital

Source: Chinese Medical Association