HPV questions

[arghh84]

My fiance was diagnosed with HPV (warts) recently after nearly three years of ignoring a bump that had increased to about 5 and he is treating it with Aldara. I had told him when we first mentioned it (within a few months of us seeing eachother and before we slept together) to get it checked out and I was foolish enough to think he had and it was all clear... so it is what it is. About after we started seeing eachother I went in for a routine PAP and there was nothing abnormal found. The standard where I live is that if you have a normal PAP you don't need another one for 3 years, making me due for one in a year from now.

So...from my reading I have HPV. I see no bumps externally on myself and know there is a possibility that they are present internally (I plan on going and getting a PAP asap).

Now my questions...I heard most people "Clear" HPV in 2 years. So I assume I've had this for at least 2.5 years now, should I assume if nothing shows up on the PAP that I am clear or do I wait indefinitely for the possibility of these horrid things showing up?

Also, assuming one (especially women) clears the virus, how do women suddenly end up with a reoccurence during pregnancy? I guess the immune system is compromised, but I get the impression that you are, for lack of better term "cured".

Thanks, I hope this made sense.

[arghh84]

Thanks grace.

I assume I have it and I guess the only way to know is if anything comes up? I am pretty horrified at the prospect and my anxiety levels are fairly high and to be honest I am a little angry at myself and at my fiancé that he was too much of a coward to get it properly checked out and save me from getting it, but again, I assume responsibility for not following up on it.

The Internet is scary and it says I could pass this on to my child through birth and it can cause respiratory issues and I am at the poit of not wanting to have kids at all anymore because of it. It does say the risk is small but I don't know if I could live with myself should it happen.

An even the idea of the fact that these could  show up during pregnancy even though they haven't before makes me just so grossed out and ashamed that even if there is no risk of affecting my baby, I don't want to give these things any opportunity to show up. I know it sounds ridiculous but my rational side is losing to my anxiety and shame.

[gracefromHHP]

external genital warts are a cosmetic issue. they are typically not the same types of hpv that cause cervical cell changes that are detected on pap tests.  there are over 30 different types of hpv that commonly infect the genital area in males and females, of those, about half cause genital warts and the other half infect the cervix, anal and oral areas. Of those, about half of those are low risk which means that they rarely linger and progress to cancer. The rest of them are considered high risk which means that they are more likely to linger and potentially lead to cell changes that are associated with cancer development.  

so what should you do about your partners hpv infection at this point? well honestly, nothing. you have been with him since he's had it so if you don't already have it, no real reason to change what you are doing.  should you develop any obvious warts, be seen for treatment.

what to do about your paps at this point? you are in a committed monogamous relationship so continuing to get paps every 3 years is fine.

why does it seem that hpv can reoccur during pregnancy?  we've had tons of research on hpv in the last 10 years thanks to the gardasil vaccines and we are learning more and more about it. we do know that for most folks, within 2 years, hpv levels fall to levels where we can not detect them with the means we currently have.  not able to detect the virus means it's not likely to be transmitted to a partner. for most folks, it's not going to be an issue.

hope I didn't overwhelm you with info!

grace