hpv and smoking

[ncphilly]

Hello, Im a 28 year old gay male who was diagnosed with genital hpv in May 2010. I had several outbreaks untill December09. Since then i have been lesion free, have had NO sex since then and even went and got the hpv vaccine. I quit smoking cold turkey the day i was diagnosed, in hopes that my body would clear the virus better. I have been smoke free for over a year now, but over the past few days i had a slip up and finished off half a pack of cigarettes. I dont plan on doing this ever again (if i can help it). My question is: since smoking weakens the immune system, is thoa little slip up enough to re-activate my hpv, or would i need to go back to being a consistent smoker? Will it interfere with my third hpv vaccine due in august?

Thank you!

[gracefromHHP]

usually if warts haven't come back in a year after being removed, we consider the patient cleared of hpv.  

continuing to not smoke is always in your best interest in general - both healthwise and financially!  The fact that you had a few cigs has no impact on your former hpv infection at this point.

always remember that proper condom use reduces transmission of hpv by 90%!!  This means the condom goes on when the clothing comes off, not just waiting for actual penetration to put it on. this also goes for oral sex too. If you do this, it'll protect you from all std's properly, not just hpv . It also saves you and your partners a lot of unnecessary worry too :)

grace

[ncphilly]

sorry the "december09" is a typo, it should just be "December", as in December 2010. Sorry.