Breast Feeding & HPV

I nursed my first son for a year and he's the picture of health. I heard on the news in a brief blip the other day that HPV could possibly be passed to your child through breast milk. I recently found out through this pregnancy and an abnormal pap that I have HPV. My doctor said there's nothing that can be done about it, it doesn't hurt men, and that I just have to have regular pap exams and watch those abnormal cells closely so that I don't develop cervical cancer. I am 15 weeks pregnant with my second child and had intended to nurse just as I had my first child, but wonder how safe it is considering the HPV factor. I intend to speak to my doctor about it when I go again next week, but any shared wisdom or experience would be greatly appreciated!

[AndiJ78]

Considering that a significant portion of Americans harbor some form of HPV, it would be unlikely that any medical organization would advocate abstaining from nursing due to HPV.

"The rate of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among Americans is even greater. According to the report, an estimated 5.5 million people become infected with HPV each year in the United States, and an estimated 20 million Americans are currently infected.

The highest levels of HPV infection occur in young women. The typical prevalence of HPV for women under the age of 25 is between 28% and 46%, according to the report. Dr. Wasserheit cited other surveys showing that as many as 36% of African American women between the ages of 22 and 29 may be infected with HPV."

Here is a blurb from Reuters on the study in question:

"High-risk HPV DNA was detected in 10 milk samples (4.5 percent), the team reports. DNA sequencing from nine samples confirmed that the virus was high-risk HPV-16.

The detection rate of high-risk HPV was 12 to 15 percent in cervical samples, 20 to 24 percent in oral samples from mothers, and 21 to 26 percent in oral samples from fathers.

The team also observed a significant link between HPV in milk and the presence of high risk-HPV in oral scrapings obtained from the father.

Thus, transmission could have occurred by the spouse, from the mouth to the nipple and then to the breast, or it could have occurred from the mother's hands, Syrjanen said."

Until a reputed medical organization comes out with an opinion on this, I would not be terribly concerned. The benefits derived from nursing well trump anything related this this study in my opinion.

[YoungMom130]

Thank you very much for that information. Since my husband and I have only been with each other since we started dating it's safe to assume that I had HPV while nursing my first child, and he's as healthy as a child can be- he's 17 m/o and has only had a 3 day cold once! I want very much to do what's best for my children, and I know how great the benefits of nursing are, I've seen them. Again, thank you for your response!

[AndiJ78]

No problem. It is good to be informed. I have rarely found many women left untouched by HPV in some form or another, myself included. I nursed all three of my boys, the last one weaned almost 2 mos ago. I have no regrets even with this coming to light.