What does HPV18 positive mean

HPV18 virus is a relatively common HIV virus. It can cause great harm to patients and can cause symptoms such as cervical cancer and breast cancer. Therefore, we should pay attention to the examination of HPV18 virus. Once we have a blood test in the hospital and find that HPV18 is positive, we need to check the severity of the disease and then provide treatment so that we can control the spread of the disease in time.

The HPV test is positive, and human papillomavirus infection is initially considered. The patient may develop genital warts, flat warts, common warts, cervical cancer and other diseases. However, a positive HPV infection does not mean that the HPV patient will develop the disease immediately, because the incubation period of HPV ranges from 3 to 8 months. In addition, there is a possibility of transmission if the HPV test is positive, because even if the HPV test is positive, the patient's immune status cannot be determined. The small amount of virus residing in the patient's body will continue to increase if the patient's immunity is low, and it can be transmitted to other people without any symptoms. Therefore, patients must combine the TCT test results with pathological examination to finally determine whether they have the disease. HPV testing methods

1. Detection of HPV antigen: After the human epidermal cells are infected with the HPV virus, the HPV will proliferate in the cells and synthesize capsid protein. Immunoenzyme staining can accurately detect the HPV antigen components in infected cells, which is very important for the diagnosis of genital warts.

2. Detection of HPV antibodies: Studies have found that HPV antibodies are not produced in the early stages of HPV infection, so HPV antibodies may not be detected in the serum. However, as the infection time prolongs, HPV antibodies are produced and can be detected in the serum at this stage. This indicates that HPV antibodies appear in the late stage of genital warts.

3. HPV-DNA testing: HPV testing can also extract mucus and secretions from areas where lesions have occurred. Generally, PCR technology is used because of its strong sensitivity and specificity, simple operation, and no high requirements for the samples used for testing. PCR technology has been widely used in the examination of skin diseases and is currently the most common method for HPV testing.

What to do if HPV is positive

If you find that HPV is positive during a physical examination, don't panic. At this time, you should first do a cervical cell scraping test (TCT).

If TCT also has abnormalities:

1. The doctor will recommend you to have a colposcopy. The purpose of colposcopy is to comprehensively evaluate whether there are lesions in the cervix, vagina and other parts. Some small and hidden lesions can be found through colposcopy.

2. A biopsy is needed. A biopsy is to take a little tissue, a little bit of flesh for testing, and finally get a pathological diagnosis result. The pathological result is the evidence for determining the treatment plan.

Colposcopy is a critical step in this process. Colposcopy evaluation requires the doctor to conduct a comprehensive and detailed evaluation of the cervix, vagina and other parts.

If a detailed colposcopy examination does not reveal any abnormalities, we will consider that the HPV positive is just a virus carrier. At this time, only follow-up observation is needed, just like the common cold virus, there is no need to be nervous.