does it go away after treatment?

[lifesince88]

If someone is treated for HPV and it clears.. that person has sex with someone, will the give them HPV. I understand this is in the body for ever, but like some colds, they lay dormant and arent any big concern.
Bottom line.. if someone gets treated for HPV, and there pap tests come back fine, are they then safe to have sex without a condom, or will they 'infect' the next person?

[simplynat]

Yes, LR-HPV is more likely to cause genital warts if it causes any symptoms at all however it has the ability to create mild dysplasia as well. THat being said - it can not cause cancer. Mild dysplasia will usually clear on it's own and in order to progress to a high grade dysplasia or cancer, the woman would need to be infected with at least a strain of high risk HPV.

[yi3o8]

I guess low risk can cause an abnormal pap. Early on maybe? I have heard conflicting views.

[simplynat]

Yes, I would say that is a pretty accurate summary. There isn't an FDA approved HPV test for men, no matter if the strain(s) are high risk or low risk. Currently the only FDA approved test (Digene test) is only offered to women - and usually after the age of 30. The Digene test can only detect active strain(s) of HPV, not dormant. It's possible you have/had strains of both the high risk and low risk category. If you developed only a mild dysplasia (not moderate or severe dysplasia) it is possible to have been caused by low risk HPV, however it is more common to be caused by high risk HPV. However, if you had/have high risk HPV, your partner would likely not show any symptoms or ill-effects (except penile cancer which is extremely rare) and if you had/have strictly low risk HPV, the only effect that could develop would be genital warts - IF a symptom developed. Most people will never develop any symptoms, no matter whether the stain(s) are high risk or low risk.

[deltagirl191]

I read your comment about my HPV infection, and let me know if I understand your comment.  HR-HPV is probably what I had, since I had cyrosurgery, and HR-HPV causes no ill effects in men, and there is no test for it for them, and if I would have had LR-HPV and passed it on to my husband the effect would be genital warts.

[simplynat]

You likely would have no idea if you passed the virus on to your husband(s). Men usually have no symptoms or ill-effects from HPV unless they develop genital warts. Genital Warts are caused by low risk strains of HPV, the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer are high risk HPV. Your abnormal paps and requirement of cryotherapy would likely have been due to HR-HPV - which men would not know they have. (there isn't an FDA approved HPV test for men)

[deltagirl191]

I had HPV 21 years ago, and had my cervix frozen as treatment.. It was recommended then to have pap smears every 6 months rather than annually.  In 21 years, I have had 2 paps come back abnormal, but after repeating them, they were normal,  Those two abnormals were from scar tissue on my cervex from biopsies.  I have had 2 husbands since then, and neither of them has gotten HPV from me, so i assume I am not contagious, and the cyrosurgery cured the HPV 21 years ago.

[alexdelong]

If the virus has cleared, you won't infect your partner. Unfortunately, it can be tough to tell if the virus is gone or just dormant.

I think you should be safe after the PAP test comes out okay, but it is always a good idea to wear a condom anyway, particularily if you aren't planning on monogamy.

Almost everybody has or have had HPV, so there will always be some risk, regardless of the partner.