i posted earlier a few weeks back about having HPV, the genital warts strain. My answers were good, yet I want a few more opinions, and facts. I have researched a ton, but get different answers constantly. Please if you do not know anything about the virus then don't reply b/c it just confuses me. If you know the facts, please reply! thanks so much.
ps. another thing is that i can pass it on but with guys that don't usually show, they just have the virus an pass it on, it doesn't really affect them? i want to know that as well b/c i am guessing i got it from my ex b/f before the guy i am now with (we are serious and have been for awhile). I decided to stop having sex with my boyfriend because he may not have it an i don't want to give it to him, Can they test him an find out if he has it or not? is there any point in him going to the dr. for it? he hasn't got warts. should i let down my guard about us havin sex? b/c we are serious and planning on marriage. Yes you are right. You can only get rid of the warts outbreaks and not the virus. My brother's wife cheated on my brother and got HPV and then confessed to my brother after getting it. That was six years ago and my brother gets tested about twice a year and they never find any evidence of him having HPV so you are also right about it not usually showing on guys. You can still have sex with your soon to be husband and live a normal life but talk to your OBGYN about a prescription medicine that you can take to prevent you from passing it on to your partner. Also avoid sexual contact with him when you know you are having an outbreak. I hope this helps. The virus is for keeps unfortunately but you can suppress its effects! I did my thesis in college about this. It is a fallacy that the virus never clears; in most people the virus clears within 2 years (symptoms disappear before that). My best friend got them, and her doc told her that she could go back to having sex after about 6 months. I found this information in a web site from Brown University:
"but it is important to understand that the underlying HPV infection can't be cured. Like any type of viral infection, HPV stays in your body and can cause warts to appear in the future, particularly when your immune system is suppressed" They CAN test the guy to see if he has it.
Luckily, you CAN get rid of the virus! Usually your body can pass the virus on its own (it's easier for your body to pass it if you don't smoke) BUT the warts I don't think that you can get rid of those. The warts can be on either your cervix or your vagina where you can see them. If you just have the virus, you will probably pass it on your own just go bacvk to your dr and get a second pap smear 3 months after your abnormal one that indicated the virus. If your body does pass it, look into getting the Gardisil shot to prevent from catching it again since it will be easier for you to get it since you've already been exposed. Most insurance companies pay for you to get the shot. (There's 3 shots you get!)
Any other questions let me know there's alot to type!
By the way genital warts is only ONE strain of HPV there are several others, so you may not have the one that causes warts. ok first line is correct , you can never get rid of the virus. 2nd yes it does affect men, Go through my infectious disease lectures on STD's and you will come out changed. The problem is the warts aren't always consistant. But yes men to get the symptoms, and unfortunately many are slimeballs and don't tell people. 3rd you have moral responsibility to tell not only your current bf but also your ex. Reasons being sometimes people don't show it for a while and give it to other people. Virus's are like that. If you plan on being with you current bf have him definitely get tested. I would not let down your guard about having sex with him. Now about havng sex I have this piece from a health agency "Genital warts are spread by having sex with someone who is infected with HPV, whether they have visible warts or not.
Using a male or female condom will provide some protection, but only to the skin covered by the condom. Condoms do not cover all genital skin so they do not protect the area 100 per cent. Avoid having sex with someone who has sores or unusual growths on or around their genitals."
so it is a tough gamble.
I wish the best of luck to you. But remember it is a moral responibility to tell them both and that they both should get tested and to tell others to get tested. HPV DOES GO AWAY!!! All the information that says HPV is forever is OUTDATED!! Recent scientific literature suggests that the vast majority of people with HPV (including the strains that cause genital warts) will clear the virus (as in get rid of completely) within a few years of diagnosis. Newer diagnostic tests can look for HPV DNA, not just cellular abnormalities or antibodies. The lack of DNA indicates clearance of infection.
Second, your man may or may not show symptoms of genital warts. His warts might be super tiny and not noticeable. He may never get a wart at all. If you haven't had an active outbreak in 6 months, go for it. And anyway, if you are planning on getting married, what's the point of worrying about? You're going to have decades of sharing each others germs :-) I found a wart on myself a few months ago. It must have been triggered by sex because I was having sex with my boyfriend and it showed up the very next day. At first I freaked out but when i touched it and it didnt hurt or anything I figured it was just a heat bump/irritation bump from sex (we had some rough steamy sex)so I had sex with him while i had it. When it didnt go away I went to the doctor and he assured me it was a wart and burnt it off. I felt horrible about having sex with my boyfriend while I had one in case I gave it to him. But it has been 3 months and he still hasn't shown any signs of it. I talked to the doctor and asked if I should tell my boyfriend. He told me it was my decision...but that there wasnt an urgent need to tell him unlike having Chlymidia or HIV, He said for men it is only cosmetically unpleasing but there are no health risks for them. Just to let you know, genital warts is EXTREMELY common....the day I got my wart burnt off the doctor told me i was the 15th patient he has seen affected with it in that day. And once I got it I freaked out and told my best friend of 5 years and she then confessed to me that she has it as well. So I am sure that a lot of your friends have it too and they just don't wanna talk about it. The doctor told me 70 percent of women have it. I am in college and taking a course about STDs and the proff. has said that it is rare for men to show symptoms of HPV but it is still possible. She also said that it can actually cure itself within about 2-4 years, which is very uplifting news. I am hoping that my boyfriend does not show symptoms as well. But don't beat yourself up about this..it was not your fault, just as it wasn't my fault that I got it. But if you do plan on telling your boyfriend, bring it up like my friend did to her boyfriend. She said "Hey I was going for my yearly pap smear and it came back abnormal. When the results came back it said I have HPV, which is a virus that can cause cervical cancer, or genital warts. But she assured me it was nothing life threatening and that it is very common among women. I just wanted to let you." And he was cool with it and didn't even ask any questions. So that is a good way to bring it up if you want to. I hope i have helped! You have already had sex with the partner so statistic show that it is probable that he already shares your virus type鈥?and since you had sex with him after your initial diagnosis of HPV genital warts then he may have already share an HPV type with you. Most of us have HPV with no visible signs and no symptoms. Once you have an HPV type or types you can鈥檛 get it again but some people may have a reoccurrence to their shared HPV type or types may years down the road. The body鈥檚 immune system usually keeps the virus in check in a couple of years but reoccurrences do happen and also acquiring new HPV type. Couples usually build immunity to their share HPV types.
The occurrence from HPV virus to cancers is usually long. This is why it is recommended that we have yearly Paps with HPV test to see early changes and treat if necessary. Cervical cancer may occur many years after clear Paps but most often our Paps do spot the cell changes of HPV early on.
Visible genital HPV types are usually a low risk HVP type either 6 or 11. As with the male there is no FDA/DNA screening method for the vulva.
A new out-crop of warts doesn鈥檛 mean that you just acquired the virus the warts the can occur years after first acquiring the virus.
HPV is very contagious studies show that we usually share our HPV type with first intercourse with someone with an active HPV type.
There is no FDA/DNA that can be done on the male. Research is doing so studies but thus far no test have been approved. A vinegar wrap can be done that may show the presents of visible warts. Sometimes a man will show small flat warts that can be high risk HPV type. Newer studies also show that 20 to 50% of the population with genital warts also carries a co-infection with a high risk HPV type.
HPV can and does affect the male. It may not carry the health burden that women do with the virus. Cancer of the penis is rare but it does happen. Males how have sex with males can have anal cancer also the risk of anal cancer is high in women who engage in anal intercourse. HPV can be found in the oral cavity鈥o new research is showing that a male may have high risk here. www.oralcancerfoundation.org
You have done your research you, and your partner knows some of the basic information on HPV. Your partner understands his risks鈥o the decision to proceed is between the both of you.
True love should never cease due to an HPV infection
I wish you both well.
Cancer of the Penis:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/5681...
A healthy cell-mediated immune system down-modulates HPV activity by mechanisms not yet known, while transient or long-term immunosuppression can lead to reactivation of latent infections, onset of epithelial hyperproliferation and pathologic changes, and virus reproduction.
http://www.ipvsoc.org/MOLECULAR%20%20BIO...
Genital warts
Condylomata bearing HPV-6 or -11 have identical clinical
manifestations and histology [2]. Recent studies have shown that about
100% of GWs are caused by either HPV-6 or -11 but that 20鈥?0% of
lesions also contain co-infections with HR HPV types [3] and [4]. GWs
do not usually result in major morbidity or mortality, but cause
significant psychological morbidity and very substantial healthcare
costs. Occasionally GWs persist for long periods of time and, rarely,
such long-standing lesions may progress to malignancy. GWs are highly
infectious, with a transmission rate of about 65% within sexual
partnerships from an infected to a susceptible sexual partner, and an
incubation period of between 3 weeks and 8 months, with the majority
developing warts at around 2鈥? months [3]. Once GWs have developed,
they may show minimal change over time, become more numerous or
larger, or regress spontaneously. The majority of placebo-controlled
GW therapy trials show low rates of regression (around 5% complete
clearance) in the short term, although in one study over 16 weeks 20%
of women and 5% of men using placebo completely cleared their warts,
and 38% of women and 22% of men using placebo cleared over 50% of
their baseline warts [3]. Regressing warts contain significantly more
CD4 positive T cells, both within the stroma underlying the lesions
and the condylomata themselves, and greater expression of activation
markers [3]. There is no report of the rate of spontaneous regression
that may occur in the longer term. Following GW clearance with
therapy, recurrence is common and is often seen within 3 months in 25%
of cases, although rates of up to 67% have been observed [3]. In
clinical practice recurrences are often seen at sites of previous
lesions, and in these cases HPV infection in stem cells or
slow-turnover cells at the site of previous clearance has persisted
and then reactivated. The proportion of HPV-6/11 infections that are
either completely cleared or persist in a latent form after clinical
resolution is unknown, and, indeed, animal models suggest that both
outcomes can occur [3].
HPV-6/11 as a cause of cervical neoplasia
HPV-6 and -11 are frequently associated with LSIL. A recent
meta-analysis of 55 studies reported HPV-6 to be present in 8.1% of
HPV-positive LSIL cases and HPV-11 in 3.2% of cases [25]. However, it
remains unclear in what proportion of these HPV-6/11-positive LSIL
cases there is concomitant co-infection with a HR type, and whether
such HR co-infections would be "minority passenger" infections as
described in GWs, or represent true multiple-morphology cervical lesions.
Costs of HPV-6/11 disease
The principal healthcare costs caused by HPV-6/11 are through GWs and
RRP. Recent UK- and USA-specific data on the costs of treatment of GWs
in routine clinical practice [38] and [39] estimated the cost of a
single successful episode of treatment of a case of GWs to be 拢216 ($
377) in the UK and $ 436 in the USA. Using the UK STI clinic 2004 GWs
prevalence data, this equates to around 拢31 million ($ 54 million) per
annum for the UK. One study from the USA estimated the annual direct
healthcare costs of GWs as $ 200 million [40]. In a report from the
Task Force on RRP, the annual cost for surgical procedures in the USA
was estimated to be $ 109 million for JORRP and $ 42 million for AORRP
[27]. In countries with cervical screening programmes there will also
be significant costs associated with HPV-6/11-associated abnormal
cytology and consequent procedures, although estimates of these costs
are not available.
Often, however, genital warts cause no symptoms. Or they may be so small and flat that they can't be seen with the naked eye.
About two-thirds of people who have sexual contact with a partner with genital warts will develop warts, usually within 3 months of contact.
If you are infected but have no symptoms, you can still spread HPV to your sexual partner and/or develop complications from the virus.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/genital...
Genital warts (sometimes called condylomata acuminata or venereal warts) are the most easily recognized sign of genital HPV infection. Many people, however, have a genital HPV infection without genital warts.
Like many STIs, genital HPV infections often do not have signs and symptoms that you can see or feel. One study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported that almost half of women infected with HPV had no obvious symptoms.
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/healthscience/...
鈥?The genital HPV types can be divided into two broad groups (low-risk and high-risk HPVs) depending upon their association (or lack of association) with cancers of the lower genital tract.
鈥?Low-risk HPV types (6, 11, 42,43,44, 54,61,70,72, and 81) are virtually never found in cancers.
鈥?High-risk HPV types (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73, and 82) have been identified in cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, anus, and penis.
鈥?The most common types detected in genital warts are HPV 6 and HPV 11.
鈥?The most common HPV type detected in both normal women and in women with cervical cancer is HPV 16.
鈥?The majority of cervical cancers (80%) are caused by just 4 HPV types (16, 18, 31, and 45).
Most people who get HPV never know they have it, as they do not develop genital warts, abnormal Paps, or other manifestations of HPV that they can identify
http://cme.asccp.org/faq/histHPV.cfm
鈥?Low-risk types of HPV can cause genital warts. Warts can form weeks, months, or years after sexual contact with a person who has genital HPV. Genital warts can grow inside and around the outside of the vagina, on the vulva ("lips" or opening to the vagina) and cervix, groin and in or around the anus. In men, genital warts can grow on the penis, scrotum, thigh, groin, or in or around the anus. While very rare, genital warts can grow in the mouth or throat of a person who has had oral sex with an infected person. The size of genital warts varies and some may be so small, you can't see them with your eyes. They can be flat and flesh-colored or look bumpy like cauliflower. They often occur in clusters or groups. They may cause itching, burning, and discomfort. It's also possible that warts may never appear. In fact, most people with low-risk types of genital HPV never know they are infected because they don't get warts or any other symptom.
http://www.4women.gov/FAQ/stdhpv.htm
HPV 6 and 11 are the most common low-risk types found in genital and respiratory tract warts
Genital HPV infection with low-risk types of HPV is associated with genital warts in men and women. About 1% of sexually active adults in the U.S. have visible genital warts at any point in time.2
w.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine-...
once a particular type of the virus has been exchanged, there is little risk of a 'ping-pong' effect - in which you and your partner keep re-infecting each other with the same type. (In other words, you don't need to worry about passing the same type of HPV back and forth.) However, if you become sexually involved with a different partner, you may pass any types of HPV that are "active" in your body to her, and vice versa.
http://www.thehpvtest.com/HPV-for-men-FA...
There is an 80% chance of getting the wart virus with just one sexual contact with an infected person. There is now evidence that they can occasionally be picked up without sex but this is very rare. The wart virus may lay dormant or inactive for up to 20 years after infection before they show up.
More information on Andrscopy for the male.
http://www.mpcenter.net/patient_ed/andro...
UAB Researchers Make Breakthrough Discovery of HPV Replication
Posted on March 15, 2004 at 4:00 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL 鈥?Researchers at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) have discovered the mechanism used by a common virus to replicate itself and remain in the human body for decades. Human papillomavirus (HPV), a family of over 100-related viruses, are responsible for a variety of medical conditions, ranging from benign hand or foot warts to genital warts, cervical cancer and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a potentially fatal disease in children.
In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in March, the research team reports that a viral replication protein known as E2 binds the circular viral DNA to cell structures called spindle fibers that are present in a cell when it divides, a process known as mitosis. In mitosis, a single cell divides in two, creating two genetically identical daughter cells. By latching onto the spindle fibers of the cell as it divides, HPV DNA also divides and replicates itself in each of the new daughter cells where it can continue to replicate and persist indefinitely.
鈥淚n effect, HPV is able to mimic our own chromosomes, behaving as a sort of 鈥榤ini-chromosome鈥? independently replicating and keeping pace as the cellular chromosomes replicate and the cell divides,鈥?says Tom Broker, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics and co-author of the paper. 鈥淭his allows the virus to remain in our bodies indefinitely, with the potential of causing serious disease years, even decades, after first exposure.鈥?br>
Broker says that virtually all humans carry at least one type of HPV for much of their lives, usually transmitted to the external skin very early in life or to the internal mucosal lining later during sexual contact. For most people, the virus persists at low levels without causing obvious disease, and the body鈥檚 immune system keeps it in check.
However, in some people, the virus can become activated and cause lesions, particularly if the infected tissue is repeatedly injured, or following periods of emotional or physical stress, during pregnancy, as a result of immunosuppressive therapy for immune disorders or organ transplantation, as a outcome of progressing HIV/AIDS, and even as a consequence of aging.
鈥淭his is a major breakthrough in our quest to find ways to treat the myriad conditions associated with HPV,鈥?says Louise Chow, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics and co-author of the paper. 鈥淭his improves our understanding of the mechanisms the virus uses to reproduce. We now have new molecular targets to aim at for antiviral drug discovery.鈥?br>
HPV鈥檚 special mechanism for attaching itself to the mitotic spindles and getting pulled into the daughter cells has not been observed with other families of viruses, according to Chow.
There are about 15,000 new cases of cervical or penile cancer attributed to HPV each year in the US, and nearly 5000 deaths. Worldwide, 600,000 cases occur annually, especially in developing countries without advanced medical diagnostic methods such as Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening, which can detect the activation of HPV early enough for aggressive treatment to be successful.
HPV infection in the throat and respiratory tract, laryngeal papillomatosis, can cause recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in children, who are usually infected at birth from contact with HPV-caused genital warts present in the mother. There are an estimated 2,000 cases per year in the United States
This research was funded by grants from the United States Public Health Service and the National Cancer Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health. Tom Broker is the President of the International Papillomavirus Society. More information on HPV and associated disease can be found at the society鈥檚 Web site at www.IPVSoc.org.
The first author of the publication is Brian A. Van Tine, for whom this project formed part of his Ph.D. thesis. Van Tine is currently completing his medical training at UAB, supported in part by the Medical Student Training Program for the M.D., Ph.D. combined degree.
The article can be read online at www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.030684...
A latency period of months to years may ensue. Following that period, viral DNA, capsids, and particles are produced. Host cells become infected and develop the morphologic atypical koilocytosis of genital warts.
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/TOPIC640....
鈥?Overt disease may be more common in men (reported in 75% of patients); however, infection may be more prevalent in women.
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/TOPIC107.... |
