Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
STDs (Expert Forum)
Oral Transmission - HPV
Answered by
University of Washington
Seattle - WA
This forum does not cover AIDS/HIV issues. This forum is for questions and support regarding STD issues such as: Chlamydia, Crabs (pubic lice scabies), Gonorrhea, Hepatitis (viral), Herpes, HPV, Molluscum Contagiosum, PID, Rectal Infections, Syphilis, Trichomonas, Warts, Yeast Infection.
IMPORTANT
This forum is limited to questions about STDs other than HIV/AIDS. For questions about HIV prevention, or if you have general questions about safe sex (e.g., condoms, how to protect yourself from HIV and STDs), please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum
Some of the most common types of questions concern the risk of HIV or STD after a particular sexual exposure, and about symptoms that might or might not be due to HIV. If your question is along these lines, please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum.
This forum is limited to questions about STDs other than HIV/AIDS. For questions about HIV prevention, or if you have general questions about safe sex (e.g., condoms, how to protect yourself from HIV and STDs), please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum
Some of the most common types of questions concern the risk of HIV or STD after a particular sexual exposure, and about symptoms that might or might not be due to HIV. If your question is along these lines, please visit the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex Forum.
Oral Transmission - HPV
by HPVcurious9797, May 12, 2008 06:20PM
Dear Doctors,
I am writing in hopes you can give me clarification about whether I have contracted HPV. My main concern is that I may have contracted it orally. My timeline is this:
On my 5 or 6th date with a man,I performed unprotected oral sex on him. On our next date he informed me that he has suffered from mild genital warts over the years. Has had minimal symptoms for the past year and 1/2. We refrained from further sexual contact.
I consulted a doctor, she gave me my first Gardasil shot. Continued to date the man and getting to know him w minimal sexual contact since my doctor advised that exposure to the virus could defeat the purposed of the vaccine. Over the course of the next 6 months (while I was getting vaccinated) we had unprotected oral sex 5-6 times. My logic here was that I may already have been exposed to the HPV orally and my doctor told me oral transmission is extremely rare. Had protected intercourse 3-4 times.
After 6 months together, the man broke off the relationship. There were many factors for this; stress of very little sex while waiting for me to complete the vaccine was one of them. I completed shot 3 of the vaccine 3 weeks after we broke up.. It has been almost a year since our first encounter. It has been 6-7 months since our last encounter. I have no symptoms of HPV and feel fairly confident that I did not contract it. Would you agree that my risk of having the virus is fairly low given that I was vaccinated and that if I was exposed, it was orally? I may see an ENT doctor to be sure, but what do you think?
I want to move forward w my dating life but need to feel that I am doing right by the men I meet in the future - If there is a major chance that I have HPV I will feel obligated to let future partners know -
Thank you for your input -
I am writing in hopes you can give me clarification about whether I have contracted HPV. My main concern is that I may have contracted it orally. My timeline is this:
On my 5 or 6th date with a man,I performed unprotected oral sex on him. On our next date he informed me that he has suffered from mild genital warts over the years. Has had minimal symptoms for the past year and 1/2. We refrained from further sexual contact.
I consulted a doctor, she gave me my first Gardasil shot. Continued to date the man and getting to know him w minimal sexual contact since my doctor advised that exposure to the virus could defeat the purposed of the vaccine. Over the course of the next 6 months (while I was getting vaccinated) we had unprotected oral sex 5-6 times. My logic here was that I may already have been exposed to the HPV orally and my doctor told me oral transmission is extremely rare. Had protected intercourse 3-4 times.
After 6 months together, the man broke off the relationship. There were many factors for this; stress of very little sex while waiting for me to complete the vaccine was one of them. I completed shot 3 of the vaccine 3 weeks after we broke up.. It has been almost a year since our first encounter. It has been 6-7 months since our last encounter. I have no symptoms of HPV and feel fairly confident that I did not contract it. Would you agree that my risk of having the virus is fairly low given that I was vaccinated and that if I was exposed, it was orally? I may see an ENT doctor to be sure, but what do you think?
I want to move forward w my dating life but need to feel that I am doing right by the men I meet in the future - If there is a major chance that I have HPV I will feel obligated to let future partners know -
Thank you for your input -
Doctor's Answer
by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D., May 12, 2008 07:54PM
, May 12, 2008 07:54PM
HPV of the mouth is rare. The types of HPV that cause most genital infections don't survive well in tissues away from the anal or genital area. Even if you happened to acquire your partner's penile wart virus infection on or near your mouth, you can expect it to remain asymptomatic (i.e., to never cause warts or any other problem) and to go away by itself.
In other words, the odds are you were never infected; and if you were, it probably is gone by now. There's no point in seeing an ENT doctor or anyone else. There is no test to show accurately whether or not you have an oral infection. And as I already suggested, it doesn't matter.
So let it go. You're fine. There's no health problem here.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
In other words, the odds are you were never infected; and if you were, it probably is gone by now. There's no point in seeing an ENT doctor or anyone else. There is no test to show accurately whether or not you have an oral infection. And as I already suggested, it doesn't matter.
So let it go. You're fine. There's no health problem here.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Further, 90% of all of us get genital HPV, and most of us probably have several infections in the course of our sexually active lives. Therefore, very few sexually active people can honestly reassure a partner they are not contagious. If every person potentially infected with HPV were to inform their partners of that fact, then every human being would say it to every sex partner for his or her entire life. Does that sound realistic?
So just mellow out about HPV. If you have ever had genital sex, it is a good bet you already have been infected. And you're going to get it again someday. Getting HPV, both genital and non-genital strains, may not be desirable, but it is normal and expected. It is wise to be vaccinated for protection against most of the disease-causing strains. But aside from immunization, the wise sexually active person just gets on with life without worrying about HPV. I suggest you try to do the same.