There is a lot of infections that cause cancer.

Cancer is infectious?

In my earlier post, I had strictly criticized people for not cooperating with patients and their families many times.

I think now, you might be understanding why they choose to do so. No one is sure if the patient suffered from cancer due to one of these infectious agents. So, you must know which infectious agents are responsible for which types of cancer.

Next time, you can at least ask people what or which type of cancer they have suffered from, and why to understand if they suffer from a cancer that can be caused by infections. It must be alarming for some, that there are even infectious agents which can cause cancer.

Infectious agents cause almost 15% of the total new cancer cases every year.

But then not all cancers are caused by infectious agents. Let’s see which types of cancer are caused by infections.

Astonishingly almost two-third of these infectious cancer types are found in developed nations and the rest in developing nations.

More than cancer, therefore it is more important to learn about the infectious agent first. There are more than what I am mentioning below. But these four are more common and are contracted from person to person contact easily much before someone can know.

Infections that cause cancer

There are four infectious agents which can cause cancer in individuals. What are they?

1. Human Papilloma virus (HPV)
2. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)
3. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)
4. Helicobacter pylori (bacteria)

So, these are the four different types of infectious agents that can cause cancer.

First, let me brief you about these infectious agents, and in the next post, we would be telling you more about the cancers that can be caused by these infectious agents.

1. Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

This is a virus that is passed from one person to another through skin-to-skin contact. There are 100 HPV varieties.

Now, here is the catch- almost more than 40 of them are transmitted through the genitals, mouth, or throat.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says HPV is the most potent sexually transmitted disease. It is common, so common that almost all at some point all sexual partners contract it.

Some genital HPV do not cause infection at all and they just pass off normally but others do cause harm and the harm can be as big as cancer.

Genital warts, cancer of the throat, neck, cervix, and anus are caused by the human papillomavirus commonly.

The most commonly transmitted routes are the anal, oral, and vaginal sex routes. Most symptoms caused by the virus recede within two years from their appearance.

2. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)

Hepatitis B Virus is again a virus like the previously mentioned virus. It is again a sexually transmitted virus and there is even a vaccine for its prevention. Fatigue, stomach pain, jaundice, vomiting are some of the symptoms which progress to cancer most often. So, this is the second infections that cause cancer. But you can prevent it by getting vaccinated.

3. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

The virus can cause liver disease which is another type. Hepatitis C is not always sexually transmitted and often can cause both acute or chronic infections.

Hepatitis C is a primary cause of liver cancer.

The commonest mode of transmission unsafe injection practices, transfusion of blood and blood products that are not screened appropriately, injection drug use, so on and so forth.

Additionally, it also gets transmitted through unsafe sexual practices.

4. Helicobacter pylori (infections that cause cancer)

According to reports, almost two-third of the population in the world have it. Most stomach ulcers in the world are caused by the Helicobacter pylori infection and not stress, spicy foods, smoking, etc., etc.

Helicobacter pylori are common and can enter through food sources. It was discovered for the first time in 1982 and since then has been found to cause diseases including stomach cancer in many.

Antibiotics, chemical histamine, acid pump blockers kill the virus easily helping in the recovery of the disease.

Stomach lining cancer (infections that cause cancer) (the thin lining of the stomach) is primarily due to the virus.

To be continued…..