Hi Dr. Handsfield,
I saw your posts on
medhelp.org about HPV. Specifically this one:
[
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HPV-prevention-what-are-my-odds/show/245023]. I have found out that a former girlfriend of mine had HPV before we dated. This was 2.5 years ago at this point. She had an abnormal Pap
smear, followed with an HPV DNA screening which gave a positive result. The sixth month follow up Pap still showed very low grade LSIL, and the following one was clear. An HPV DNA test with the Certivsta test showed no evidence of any more HPV DNA. We began to date after all this happened, but only by a matter of months. My
question to you is if sexual contact with her could've infected me with HPV? I have read that once HPV is cleared _unaided_, it is considered noncommunicable. I understand the concern for my own health is minimal, as penile
cancer is extremely rare. I want to get married someday, and I want to be totally open and honest with my wife. I would like to know just how likely it is that I could've gotten HPV from this episode in my life. We used condoms on all but one lamentable occasion. I take reassurance in the fact that it is experts saying the contagiousness of the disease is extremely small after the immune system clears an infection, and only sites like Yahoo Answers saying anything to the contrary. I'm a bit of an academic (but not in medicine), so any technical information or even papers you can provide would be greatly appreciated. And I wish to sincerely thank you for taking the time to answer questions online. I appreciate a sane voice amidst misinformation. Thanks and I look forward to your response, -Josh