How to contain HPV

[goodhealth]

I am 46 years old and until recently have been with the same partner since 1980.  In 1996 I was diagnosed with HPV, the type that you don't see any visible warts but does cause cervical cancer.  The end result is I was given a hysterectomy.  My pap smears have been fine since that time.   My former partner did not develop any symptoms and we never use condoms.  As far as I know he was not affected in any visible way, even though we engaged in oral and anal sex.  He did have a doctor check him out when I was first diagnosed but either he was not infected or else the doctor suggested that it would not be a problem for him.  All of his annual exams have been fine.  I am now considering a new partner and want to make sure I do not give this new partner this STD.  Will a condom help prevent this?  What would be the risk to him if he performs oral sex.   I struggle with this because my former partner didn't show any signs of any problems, even though we engaged in unprotected sex for many years.  Does this particular strain of HPV cause no problems for males?  If we use a condom, how risky would it be to any partners this man may have in the future.  Thank you for your help.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You probably no longer are infected; the natural course is that the immune system clears HPV over several months.  Further, your hysterectomy probably removed all the infected tissue.  (Did you have early cervical cancer?  Or was the hysterectomy done for another reason?  HPV itself or pre-cancerous changes caused by HPV would not by themselves require removal of the uterus.)

You should not take any precautions with your new partner, for several reasons.  1) As indicated above, you probably no longer have anything to transmit.  2) Even if you still have HPV and are infectious, if the virus is transmitted to him he will never know it.  Although high-risk HPV types can cause penile cancer, that is an exceedingly rare outcome.  3) If he is a typical person who has had a handful of sex partners in his lifetime, it is a good bet he already has been exposed to the same HPV type that caused your problem and now is immune to it.  4) Condoms reduce the risk of HPV transmission, but they are not perfect, because they allow a lot of skin-to-skin contact beyond the coverage area.  Anyway, who wants to use condoms for every episode of sex forever, including for genital apposition without insertion?  For practical purposes, condoms are useful to reduce the risk of transmission in casual, brief relationships, but are not a useful approach in long-term relationships.  In short, the outcome in your former partner--who probably was infected--is what a new partner can expect, i.e. nothing.

Bottom line:  You are under no ethical obligation to even mention your HPV infection to a future partner.  There has been too much hype about HPV and its dangers.  Catching HPV is normal, it happens to almost all of us.  Don't lose sleep over it.

Regards--   HHH, MD

[goodhealth]

Truly thank you for your help.  I did have early cervical cancer even though I had pap smears faithfully every year, somehow it slipped by my doctors until it became a problem.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Thanks for the thanks.  You're welcome.

Pap smears aren't perfect, as your case shows; they can miss abnormalities that are present, or early cancer can progress rapidly, from no sign one year to a serious abnormality the next.  In any case, don't blame your doctors.

HHH, MD

[1stTime]

Now I am a 19 yo college student and I contracted HPV from my very first partner. Not only did I get the HPV that causes warts but I know that the doctor said I also have CIN I. So i was wondering how normal is that because not only do I have to worry about taking care of the warts but freezing a third of my cervix. If this supposedly goes away now does that mean that it will not cause cancer in the future? I also wanted someones opinion on the laser surgery...thanks