when a woman has a pap they get the results and see if it has dysplasia.if it does then they do what is called a thin prep test to see if it is HPV which is the cause of many cervical abnormalities.If HPV shows up in a pap there is no way to tell if it was dormant or active,it is presumed to be a recent infection by the mere fact it is just there!u have said ur wife has only been with u in 17 years and the other gf is a 3 year duration-what has gf shared with u regarding recent partners prior to her relationship to u?Unfortunately many ppl do not inquire about std histories in their partners prior to involvement!U stated that she had high risk?But HPV is a tricky thing and Drs.Hook and Handsfield have stated that 85% of all sexually active ppl will get it in their lifetime.
So to be clear, if a woman has HPV it will show up in the test regardless of whether it is dormant or active?
if a woman is regular with her paps yearly HPV will show up!again as stated here tons of times......a man can get high risk hpv and not show symptoms like low risk wart...it will clear from his body but lie dormant.Other than warts which will clear a man undergoes very little with HPV and one of ur biggest concerns here i think will be if ur wife gets it.