HPV from one woman to another via male in the middle

[Fred999]

Hello!

To my knowledge, neither I nor G1 (girlfriend one) has HPV. G2 (girlfriend two) and I have not had sex yet. She has HPV but doesn't know the exact strain. (Her doctor told her it was not the one related to genital warts; it relates instead to cervical cancer. Her doctor also told her that the risk to her partners was so low that she didn't think it was something that she had to reveal to them.) G2 told me anyway, and now I have some questions:

1. Will condoms prevent me from getting HPV from G2 and transferring it to G1?

2. If I use condoms and get HPV (unknown "cervical" strain) anyway, are the odds high that I'll transfer it to G1?

3. If the odds are high, what then would G1 expect to go through in terms of health problems?

4. If I perform oral sex on G2, can I transfer HPV to G1?

Thank you for your response.

Fred999

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Sorry, I was rushing for a plane.  I meant to write "It appears that transmission of HPV through oral sex is rare and, should it cocur, is not something to worry about."  EWH

[Fred999]

Thank you!

Was there more to your response for item 4 - perhaps the "and transmission" referred to from me to G1 (via G2)?

Fred999

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  For better or worse, at present HPV is a "fact of life" and most people have it or will have it at some point in the future.  Despite this fact, only a tiny minority of persons with HPV get the consequences of infection (primarily women and primarily cancer and pre-cancerous lesions).  HPV is the most commonly acquired STD.  Over 85% of sexually active women will have HPV infection at some time in their lives.  The figure for men is less well studied but similar.   In some HPV will cause genital warts, in others it will not cause warts but may lead to changes in PAP smears.  In nearly everyone who gets HPV, warts or otherwise, the infections will resolve by themselves without therapy in 8-24 months.  In a very small minority of women, HPV infection can persist and lead to the pre-cancerous lesions that PAP smears detect and which can then be treated.  For men there is far less risk of any sort.  With this as background, let's address your questions:

HPV is spread by direct contact from one person to another.  As noted above, most sexually active people have or have had HPV.  

1.  Condoms clearly reduce the risk for HPV by about 60% when used consistently and correctly but the protection is not perfect.  If you become infected, you could transfer infection to a partner.  

2.  If your sex is unprotected, with multiple exposures there is some risk, unless she has already had it or unless she has had  the HPV vaccine which is highly effective for reducing risk for HPV.

3.  The odds of infection are substantial but the odds of an adverse consequence are very, very low and negligible is the infected woman has regular PAP smears as recommended.

4.  It appears that transmission of HPV through oral sex is rare and transmission.

Hope this helps.  I would not worry.  EWH