So sorry to hear about your situation with HPV. The unfortunate answer to your question is yes, you can continue to pass the virus on to any future partners and you do not have to be having any outward noticeable lesions to do so. They used to think this of herpes until finally so many people contracted herpes while there partners were NOT having an outbreak that they had to reconsider their findings. Just like herpes, HPV is a virus as well. As for children, it is usually the low risk HPV, strains 6 and 11, the ones which cause genital warts which get passed to a newborn through a vaginal delivery. However, these days if it is known that the mother has HPV she is checked before delivery and if she has obvious signs of HPV they will usually do a C-section. Otherwise the baby can develop laryngeal papillomatosis, a condition which usually presents itself by the age of four and results in continual development of HPV growth within the throat and airways and must be removed.
I realize this is not good news for you and you are being very hard on yourself as a result of your choices. But feelings of shame and self-debasing yourself are not going to change the circumstances either.
Were you aware of HPV before you had sex with this boy? Is it possible at this point for you to get the HPV vaccine? If so then I's suggest you get it. If finances are a concern, Merck offers financial support for those who have financial issues in obtaining the vaccine. You can find this information at thehpvsupportnetwork.org and going to the resource page. Itis more important that ever to protect yourself against strains 16 and 18 which you may not yet have, and which are the two most aggressive to progress on to cancer.
Unfortunately, this may not be something tha you can truly move on from. Your positive paps will now require that you be more diligent regarding your screenings; you must be aware of any lesions which you may notice as the virus can spread from the cervical area to involve the vagina, vulva and anal area as well.
I'mglad you have a support system in your mom and that you can talk with her. She is right that sometimes there can be false positives but this is very rare and she is probably trying to lessen your fears of what you may have to go through next. Your gyn was right on top of it doing the colposcopy, that was just the right thing to do. I would become concerned, if mom shows signs of denial and cannot accept that you have HPV. The pap test is only 64% sensitive when it comes to HPV, but the actual HPV test, is 94% sensitive so if your HPV test came back positive chances are highly likely that yes you have HPV. Now the most important thing to do is learn asmuch as you can, get the vaccine, have a better understanding of HPV transmission (which is not just through intercourse; and try to take it one day at a time.
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So sorry to hear about your situation with HPV. The unfortunate answer to your question is yes, you can continue to pass the virus on to any future partners and you do not have to be having any outward noticeable lesions to do so. They used to think this of herpes until finally so many people contracted herpes while there partners were NOT having an outbreak that they had to reconsider their findings. Just like herpes, HPV is a virus as well. As for children, it is usually the low risk HPV, strains 6 and 11, the ones which cause genital warts which get passed to a newborn through a vaginal delivery. However, these days if it is known that the mother has HPV she is checked before delivery and if she has obvious signs of HPV they will usually do a C-section. Otherwise the baby can develop laryngeal papillomatosis, a condition which usually presents itself by the age of four and results in continual development of HPV growth within the throat and airways and must be removed.
I realize this is not good news for you and you are being very hard on yourself as a result of your choices. But feelings of shame and self-debasing yourself are not going to change the circumstances either.
Were you aware of HPV before you had sex with this boy? Is it possible at this point for you to get the HPV vaccine? If so then I's suggest you get it. If finances are a concern, Merck offers financial support for those who have financial issues in obtaining the vaccine. You can find this information at thehpvsupportnetwork.org and going to the resource page. Itis more important that ever to protect yourself against strains 16 and 18 which you may not yet have, and which are the two most aggressive to progress on to cancer.
Unfortunately, this may not be something tha you can truly move on from. Your positive paps will now require that you be more diligent regarding your screenings; you must be aware of any lesions which you may notice as the virus can spread from the cervical area to involve the vagina, vulva and anal area as well.
I'mglad you have a support system in your mom and that you can talk with her. She is right that sometimes there can be false positives but this is very rare and she is probably trying to lessen your fears of what you may have to go through next. Your gyn was right on top of it doing the colposcopy, that was just the right thing to do. I would become concerned, if mom shows signs of denial and cannot accept that you have HPV. The pap test is only 64% sensitive when it comes to HPV, but the actual HPV test, is 94% sensitive so if your HPV test came back positive chances are highly likely that yes you have HPV. Now the most important thing to do is learn asmuch as you can, get the vaccine, have a better understanding of HPV transmission (which is not just through intercourse; and try to take it one day at a time.
December 20, 2010 - 8:26pmThis Comment
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