Kinsey Confidential

Question:\nMy girlfriend told me that she had HPV but was treated. She said she got it from a previous boyfriend, and it was diagnosed through abnormal cell growth on her cervix and treated through surgery to remove these abnormal cells. She says that she no longer has HPV and that it's not something she will carry forever like herpes. I assume this is info she received from her doctor. I'm a bit concerned for myself. We've engaged in sexual intercourse, but I've worn a condom every time. However, I've performed oral sex on her several times over the last three months as well. I'm just curious about HPV and my risk for it and wondering if she is right about it. Thank you for your help\nAnswer:\nGood for you for taking your sexual health seriously and finding out more information. There are more than 100 strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV), and only a few of these cause problems such as genital warts or abnormal cervical changes (including cervical cancer). \nEven though there's a ton of scientific research being done about HPV, at this point we just don't know to what extent HPV remains in someone's body and to what extent the person is at risk for transmitting the virus to sex partners over time. People may have it forever, or the virus may go away on its own -- we just don't know for sure. However, HPV doesn't seem to affect most people after a year or two, and most people's bodies seem to be largely unaffected by it. The tricky thing about HPV is that most sexually active adults (some estimate as high as 60-80 percent of sexually active adults) have or have had HPV at some point. It's the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). Unfortunately, we don't have reliable testing for guysright now. So for all you know, you may have HPV yourself, but we just can't test you for it (this may change in the next few years -- research studies are underway to identify better testing for men). \nFor women, Pap tests can reveal cervical changes that are usually due to HPV. Usually these abnormalities go away on their own within a few months or a year, and most women soon return to having normal Pap test results. When they don't, there are procedures that can be done to help women (like what happened with your girlfriend). Condoms cannot fully protect against HPV because it is transmitted from skin to skin, and condoms clearly cannot cover all of the genital skin (they don't cover the very bottom of your penis or any of your scrotum). In that sense, anyone who engages in vaginal or anal intercourse is at risk for HPV, even if they do use a male or female condom. That doesn't mean that condoms are useless, though. Condoms -- when used consistently and correctly -- greatly reduce the risk of transmission of chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. \nAs for oral sex, it appears to be unlikely that one would get HPV warts on their mouth, for example, so performing oral sex on your girlfriend is not considered a high-risk situation for HPV (in that way, it is different from herpes). You can learn more about HPV on the KISISS Web site.\nVisit The Kinsey Institute Sexuality Information Service for Students (KISISS) online at www.indiana.edu/~kisiss, where you can ask questions, learn about our dorm sex ed programs or browse the Q&A archive.