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As of right now, there is no actual test to detect the HPV virus in a person's body. This is because the HPV virus does not show up in blood. (By the way, in case you were wondering, you can give blood even if you have HPV. It doesn't make a difference.) The way doctors diagnose HPV is simply to look for the symptoms (warts), or to take a pap smear if the patient is female. This is why so many people are carriers; doctors will see no signs of HPV, pronounce the person clean, and the person will go on his or her merry way and infect other people without ever knowing about the virus. Now, there is a very new development in the HPV world known as the Digene Hybrid Capture II test. This is basically a DNA test for HPV in the skin cells. Right now, it is being used on women only, to analyze which type of HPV they have. It is not widely available just yet, and it is mainly used to detect the cancer-causing types of HPV (dysplasia strains 16 and 18). For more information, go to www.digene.com
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Answered
by:
Rebekah
Date
Answered:
2/22/2002
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