What is HPV? 

By Human papilloma virus (HPV) we mean a group of more than 100 types of HPV that can infect humans. 

HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer. 

 

How is it spread? 

HPV is transmitted through sexual intercourse and can be passed despite the use of condoms. 

HPV can be transmitted to a newborn baby during delivery. 

 

Prevalence 

It is estimated that 80% of people are infected with this virus at some time in their lives, which puts the HPV among the most common sexually transmitted pathogens. 

 

Symptoms 

The most common symptoms are warts in the genital area in women and men. Malignant changes in the cervix are often caused by high-risk HPV infections. 

 

Diagnosis 

Testing for the presence of HPV is usually done in order to prevent the onset of cervical cancer. In the event that Pap smear test results show that there are changes in the cells of the cervix it is ​​necessary to test for the presence of HPV. If the HPV test is negative, there is less likelihood that the observed changes are connected with the development of cervical cancer. 

It is known that HPV types 16 and 18 have the highest potential to cause cancer - they are responsible for about 70% of resulting cancers. 

 

Prevention 

The presence of HPV, particularly types 16 and 18, indicate an increased risk of developing cervical cancer. When doing the HPV test and Pap smear test, the initial stage of the disease can be detected in time and its further development entirely avoided. For this reason it is necessary to regularly test for the presence of the HPV pathogen. 

Vaccination can protect women against the two most dangerous types of HPV (16 and 18), but not from other types of HPV that are responsible for about 30% of the resulting cancers. The vaccine is effective if it is received before the first infection with HPV 16 or 18. Regular checkups and vaccinations remain necessary. 

There are many types of HPV, and they differ in their ability to cause cancerous changes. It is therefore important to determine the exact type of HPV that is present - this can be done only by PCR, which is the test performed in our laboratory. 

 

DNA testing in our lab 

We test for 16 types of HPV that have different oncogenic potentials: 

• High risk: types 16, 18
• Medium risk: types 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68
• Low risk: types 6, 11

The result of the analysis is obtained within one business day. 

 

Samples for analysis 

For women the test can be done from cervical swabs (no media) that should be left for about 5 minutes to dry, after ampling. The sample can be sent by mail, and is suitable for testing even a few months after sampling. 

For men, the test can be done from a urethral swab sample, or sperm. 

 

Prices 

These prices do not include taking swabs (cervical, vaginal, urethral) - these are taken only doctors/gynecologists at extra cost. 

Genotyping of 16 HPV types 10.000 

HPV + additional pathogens (mycoplasma, chlamydia, ureaplasma, and/or gardnerela) 

HPV any one pathogen 11.000Surcharge for each additional pathogen 500 

Prices for all tests in the field of human health and payment instructions can be found here.