Can I get infected HPV these ways?

[senyy]

Hello. My question is: Do highly oncogenic varieties of HPV virus (16, 18 for example) live only on mucous membranes or can they also appear on the skin; spread outside genital area or mouth so I can potentially be infected by licking my sexual parnter body during having sex for example?

[auntiejessi]

Honestly, I don't know, and I can't find anything on it. Genital warts can occur on the thighs and other areas in the region, so it would seem that the other strains could also be found there, but I'm honestly not sure if they act differently on non-mucous skin.

Oral cancers are rare, though. For example, only 53,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year, and HPV is the most common STD - it's estimated that 90% of sexually active people will get it in their lifetimes.

So I'm not saying there isn't a risk, because there is, but most people clear the virus without any harm, and other factors play into oral cancers - smoking and any kind of tobacco use, heavy alcohol use, sun exposure on your lips, etc. If you haven't already, talk to your doctor about being vaccinated against these strains.