How long does it take to diagnose HPV in a Pap?

[alrightyroo]

How long after transmission does it take to detect HPV in a pap smear?  
IE:  I slept with someone who 3 years (and one other partner) later, was diagnosed with HPV (this is a lesbian relationship, just to clarify-I am female and so are my partners).  I got a pap smear less than a year ago and tested negative. Is it possible that even if I haven't slept with anyone since, I have HPV and it just hasn't shown up in a pap smear yet?  Or is there a window?  For instance, I know HIV is guaranteed to show up in a blood test within a year of transmission.   Is there a chance I am transmitting HPV to my other partners without it being detected?  I am referring to the type of HPV that causes pre cancerous cells and can only be detected through a pap smear. Not the type that causes warts.  

Thank you!

[Vance2335]

Please start your own thread in the HPV forum

[belle1975]

How long does it take to contract it and show in your system after you've been with somebody with hpv?

[jaclyn_rae]

I had gone to see my gyno, who diagnosed me w/hpv (wart kind). but didn't test me for it at all, just guessed. Gave me a cream, it went away w/in 3days which I thought was odd, they say to use it for 3weeks. Went to another dr who did a pap and it came up normal. Just went again and she actually did the hpv test. I'm bugging out, it should come back negative for hpv right?

[Howcliche]

I will repost there, thanks. I know that the PCOS is unrelated, it was just an opening to my question, the story of how I had come to know of possible PCOS through an appointmet that was to give me HPV results. The questions I had asked about PCOS through the PCOS community had nothing to do with HPV, so no worries.

[gracefromHHP]

we have a hpv community here on medhelp. you would benefit from asking your hpv questions there instead of here and on the pcos community.  your pcos and hpv are totally unrelated.

meanwhile http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn.cfm  is a link with really informative information about hpv - both genital warts and also cervical hpv infections for more reading.


grace

[Vance2335]

Please look at the posts you are responding to, well actually the dates. This is from 2008, the person is no longer around.

[Howcliche]

My doctor told me to get the shot. Now after reading these comments I am worried. I had abnormal cells shown on a PAP over a year ago and then I got pregnant. They were still there mid pregnancy and then again 6 months after. I just received a positive HPV test and now waiting a month out for my biopsy. My doctor said HPV takes 1-6 years to reach an incurable state, now I am wondering if this is incorrect. Could I have passed this on to my daughter? I have no idea which strain I have, only that I was tested for the 13 most aggressive. If it takes 1-6 years to reach that point and I have had these cells documented for over a year then I guess it's quite possible that I have reached the incurable state. My abnormal PAP showed "ASCUS". Not exactly sure what that refers too.

[auntiejessi]

One of the biggest frustrations I have in this field is that we don't have really good info about same sex partners.

One of the best sites for this is http://depts.washington.edu/wswstd/index.html , which is all about lesbian/same sex women partners and stds.  That might help you.

Aj

[alrightyroo]

Thank you, I appreciate your responses :)  I'm curious how easy it is to get cervical HPV through female/female sex.  I know it's possible through sharing toys and sharing fingers. It's hard to figure out how many partners I've had, being that they were all female and some involved more intimacy than others.  

[auntiejessi]

You aren't supposed to get the vaccine if you have an ACTIVE hpv infection.

If its dormant in your body, it won't matter.

I would go ahead and get the shot now.  And yes, HPV is hard to avoid.  Its estimated that if you've had 3 or more sexual partners, its almost guaranteed that you've had it.

AJ

[alrightyroo]

Interesting.. I guess there is really no way to avoid it if you're going to have sex then, huh?   Because it is skin to skin contact. The thing I'm wondering is... if it can show up years later, how is it ok to give girls/women the gardasil shots after they test negative in a pap?  I know you're not supposed to get the shot unless you DONT have HPV because it can end up increasing the chance for cervical cancer.  How can they know for sure that you don't have it, unless the test is very accurate?  I want to get the shot but don't want to put myself at risk if the HPV ends up showing up in several years! And I don't have several years of pap smears to wait until I can get the shot, as I'm 25 and the age limit is 27. What to do , what to do?!

[auntiejessi]

HPV is really tricky this way.  It will typically show up in a few months, but I know of cases where its been a few years.

Oftentimes, people are never able to figure out who gave this to whom, or where they got it from.

AJ