LAgirl81

Hi ladies,

Ok so I just spoke to my best friend's mom, the gynecologist, about my particular case and history of ascus paps.

When I asked her about possible reinfection with the same partner, she said this is not possible as you and your partner share the same active strains of HPV. HOWEVER, your partner may have some dormant strains of HPV that can flare up and be active later on in his life WHICH CAN THEN INFECT YOU. So this means that, for example, you have an active HPV strain 16 and you and your partner share this strain. Ok now you're both exposed to this and your body is trying to suppress the virus. But let's say your partner has a dormant strain of HPV 18 and 5 years from now it becomes active. At this point, you don't have HPV 18 as it is dormant in his body now-- but 5 years later, you could potentially be exposed to this HPV 18 strain as it is now active.

So she urges that EVERYONE who can, GO GET THE VACCINE. It will protect you from those strains that cause up to 70% of cervical cancers and even if you're in a monogamous relationship, you don't know if your partner is carrying a dormant strain that may flare up later and you could be exposed to it later on.

She also said that there are some studies now that show that getting the HPV vaccine has helped women with their current dysplasia. But the most important thing is to have a strong immune system, healthy diet, exercise, and NO SMOKING! (we all knew this though) Just thought I'd share this information with you all! Remember this is all treatable and we will all be fine. Here's to a future of normal paps for us all!