Final answer:
It is true that most individuals infected with HPV do not show symptoms and the infection often resolves without treatment. High-risk HPV types can lead to cervical cancer if not cleared by the immune system. Regular screening can help detect and effectively treat HPV-related health issues early.
Step-by-step explanation:
True: Most people who become infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) do not exhibit any symptoms and the infection typically clears on its own.
HPV is often acquired through sexual contact and can be transmitted by an infected person even when they are asymptomatic. The body's immune response can generally clear HPV within a couple of years. In some instances, HPV does not clear and may lead to serious health problems such as genital warts or, more severely, cancer. HPV strains are characterized as high or low risk, with high-risk types like HPV 16 or HPV 18 linked to over 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
Furthermore, while genital warts are a visible sign of low-risk HPV infection, they do not necessarily provide a reliable indicator for the detection of HPV as many infections remain subclinical. Regular screenings such as Pap tests and HPV tests for women can aid in early detection and have high treatment success rates when abnormalities are found early on.