What are the chances of transmission??

[redfox76]

I found a lump on my vagina in Sepetmber 2005 and was diagnosed with a vaginal wart which was frozen off. However, more warts appeared and I received teatment until all warts vanished, which was in April 2006. I got no further warts and, as I had been clear for 7 months, considered myself to be at low risk of transmitting them. Despite this, I refrained from sexual contact until a couple of weeks ago. I did not have full intercourse with the man but his penis was in direct contact with my vagina and I also gave him oral sex immediately afterwards. I have been feeling guilty about this liason and am going to tell him about my warts. I went to my STD clinic last week and the doctor found a very small wart on my vagina which was treated with acid and has disappeared. However, I feel terribly guilty as I was infected with a wart (without realising it) when I had sexual contact with the man. I am going to tell him about it but would like to know what the chances are of him having caught the virus from me, and if so, how likely is he to have any symptoms in the form of warts? Also, as I gave him oral sex afterwards, what are my chances of getting oral warts? You say that many people clear the virus from their system within a couple of years. Does this mean a couple of years from initial infection, or a couple of years from when you are clear of symptoms? I was diagnosed with warts a whole 15 months ago, so does this make me less likley to transmit them, despite the recent small wart? Thanks for this wonderful website- you are doing a great job and I really appreciate being able to read all the advice and support you have given people in similar situations to myself.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Several questions in there.  Oral warts are very rare; if or when people get oral HPV, it is rarely symptomatic and doesn't lead to any disease.  Anyway, how would you get oral warts from performing oral on him?  As far as you know, he doesn't have a penile wart infection.

The data on time to HPV clearance aren't all that precise, and they vary widely from one person to another.  But most people probably are not infectious after about 6 months after the last visible wart goes away.  But there is no certainty in this.  If the bump you had recently was a wart, you were infectious, regardless of how much time has passed.

Everybody gets HPV.  Your partner already has it or is going to get it somewhere else, if not from you.  All sexually active people tacitly accept the responsibility for their own health.  I don't think you need worry about it.

As to your comment below, flat warts and other kinds probably are equally infectious.  But the visual diagnosis of a single flat wart is very questionable; it's possible your current lesion isn't a wart at all.

Best wishes---  HHH, MD

[redfox76]

I forgot to say that the latest wart that was found was a flat wart. Are these less likely to be transmitted?