HPV returns years later?

[aquire7]

Hello,
My girlfriend and I have been together for exactly one year, and have been sexually active the whole time. today she told me that she wanted to talk. It turns out that her pap test came back as abnormal, and the doctor informed her that it is HPV. She was concerned that I have been cheating on her, since her previous tests were clear. I attest that I have been completely faithful to her, and have never had any signs of the virus myself. It has been about 5 years since I have been tested, but have only been in two sexual relationships in that time. Previously I was in a long term, and neither of us ever showed any signs of the virus despite yearly pap tests on her part.
My current girlfriend went on to say that her concern stems from a previous relationship, in which her boyfriend at the time had cheated on her and contracted HPV, which he gave her. She claims that she received treatment that cured the HPV, and has had clear pap tests since then. She has also never shown any symptoms (warts or lesions).
So, is it possible that her HPV was never really gone, and is only resurfacing? Does it just go away or does it lie dormant? Could it be that I have had the virus for some time and gave it to her now? Was it dormant? If it clears up or is treated, will I continue to infect her if I have the virus, causing constant abnormal tests? I am very confident that she is not cheating on me, but I can only assume that I have the virus now in any case. Whether she gave it to me or not (which I am not overly concerned over because I love her very much) I would like to clear up her concern that I cheated on her.
I am sorry if these questions have been answered a thousand times, but I have just not been able to find an explanation that covers everything I am looking for. Thank you for your time.

[despicabledog]

If she goes to see a different doctor she probably will hear Sth different. You will see how doctors opinions differ on this matter. some think its nothing and may never come back.  some think it will always come back. Individual cases vary

[veryworried420]

The reason why the doctor said that is because the odds are better it is a new infection vs an re-occurence of an old infection. However, he has no proof of that unless the strain of the virus she had in the past is different from the strain she has now. If that cannot be determined, then his opinion on this matter is just an opinion based on percentages. But there is no concrete proof of his theory. Since men cannot be tested for this std, we rely on warts or female test results to know of our HPV status.

[aquire7]

Oops on my phone and accidentally hit the post button.
Dr thinks it's a new infection and that I must have gotten it within the past couple of months and passed on to her recently. This is utter bs, but I am having trouble convincing her that the dr is wrong. What suggestions do you all have? Btw I forgot to mention that this is considered "high risk" hpv by the dr.

[aquire7]

Thank you all for your help. Well, I told her to talk to the doctor on her return visit to gt more information, and had hoped that the dr would clear up her doubts, however, the dr insists that this is an entirely new infecti

[veryworried420]

Stop playing detective (who gave it to who). Its irrelevant and impossible to do. It does go dormant for most people and for some, they become infectious again. There is no test for men and if you have no symptoms it does not mean you don't have it. And yes, it is forever. She may have been told by her GYN that she was clean but that was BS. The tests just cannot detect the virus.

[despicabledog]

Hpv can never be cured. It's her recurrence. Now you must have had it too