HPV

[need4concern]

I contracted genital warts 3 years ago and had them removed with cryotherapy and then treated the area with aldera.  It has been 2 years and 7 months since I last had a wart.  My question is should I consider myself contagious at this point?  Should I feel morally obligated to reveal this past infection to a new sexual partner?
Thank you.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the forum.

My reply will be brief, since this issue has been discussed and a complete reply would be rather lengthy.  The bottom line is that even without treatment of your warts, both the warts themselves and the HPV infection that caused them probably would have resolved long before now.  As a rule of thumb, I tell patients that if warts clear up with treatment (or go away on their own) and then do not recur within 6 months, at that point they can be reasonably certain they no longer are infected and cannot transmit the infection to sex partners.  At 2+ years you can be even more certain about it.  In my opinion, you have no obligation to tell future partners about your past infection.

Here are two threads that go into a lot more detail about these issues.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HPV--Informing-past-partners/show/763292
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Confused-about-hpv-interpretation/show/763984

Best wishes--  HHH, MD