Some people misinterpret doctors comments that the virus will "clear" on it's own to mean that it is cured. I can assure you this is not the case. Once you have contracted HPV you will have it for life. The only way that it "goes away" so to speak is that it can be kept asymptomatic by the bodies immune system and so you will not show any outwards signs or symptoms of an HPV infection. This does not mean it is gone.
Your doc probably used the Digene HPV test which is the only FDA approved test for HPV although the Cervista tests were just recently approved though not available as yet. The Digene test cannot tell the specific type of HPV you have only that it is high risk. Since high risk HPV depending upon your Pap results (CIN2 or CIN3) would require treatment and that treatment would be the same regardless of the type of high risk HPV the ISH is usually not done as it is very time consuming taking three or more weeks to do and is very costly. To find out what type of HPV you have, your doctor would have to have an ISH (in situ hybridization) performed on your biopsy (Pap) tissue.
As for your question regarding oral HPV, recent studies indicate that transmission of the virus through oral sex is likely since 25% of head and neck cancers have been found to be caused by HPV, 90% of those by HPV 16.
You can find more detailed and accurate medical info at the Any Mother's Daughter website. Hope that helps.
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Some people misinterpret doctors comments that the virus will "clear" on it's own to mean that it is cured. I can assure you this is not the case. Once you have contracted HPV you will have it for life. The only way that it "goes away" so to speak is that it can be kept asymptomatic by the bodies immune system and so you will not show any outwards signs or symptoms of an HPV infection. This does not mean it is gone.
Your doc probably used the Digene HPV test which is the only FDA approved test for HPV although the Cervista tests were just recently approved though not available as yet. The Digene test cannot tell the specific type of HPV you have only that it is high risk. Since high risk HPV depending upon your Pap results (CIN2 or CIN3) would require treatment and that treatment would be the same regardless of the type of high risk HPV the ISH is usually not done as it is very time consuming taking three or more weeks to do and is very costly. To find out what type of HPV you have, your doctor would have to have an ISH (in situ hybridization) performed on your biopsy (Pap) tissue.
As for your question regarding oral HPV, recent studies indicate that transmission of the virus through oral sex is likely since 25% of head and neck cancers have been found to be caused by HPV, 90% of those by HPV 16.
You can find more detailed and accurate medical info at the Any Mother's Daughter website. Hope that helps.
April 16, 2009 - 4:48pmThis Comment
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