Hpv - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Message Board

raycal · 04-03-2008, 05:37 PM

My wife recently discovered that she is infected with HPV. There are quite a number of small wartlike growth on the vaginal walling. She is 34 weeks pregnant.
- What is the danger extent of the disease? Is it very grave?
- Can it be treated?
- How can it be treated?
- Will it affect the child?
- Did she got infected from me? I am completely unaware if I am infected with HPV.
- At this present stage of the HPV, how long was she infected?

justcurious123 · 04-04-2008, 09:24 AM

I have done TONS of research on this because I was diagnosed a month ago.

- There is no danger to this disease unless it goes untreated for a long period of time (I saw something like 10 years). HPV can cause Cervical Cancer in woman, but if she gets treated everything should be fine.

- Unfortunately, HPV can not be treated fully. It has little to no effect on males and once the female goes in to have a biopsy done to find out what strand of HPV she has (there are over 100 different strands) they will do a procedure to remove the abnormal cells. You both have the virus but your body becomes immune to the strand(s) you have so you cant pass it back and forth with unprotected sex. There are two types of HPV, "High Risk" which put a woman at high risk for cancer and "Low Risk" means the woman is at low risk for cancer but the low risk is associated with causing warts.

- I am not sure if it will effect the child, I am 22 and that was a concern of mine (if I will be able to have a baby normal and if it will pass to my child) I was diagnosed with High Risk HPV and the doctor told me that once they remove the abnormal cells I should be able to carry and deliver a baby normal. Although, I don't have warts so this may be something to ask your doctor on your next visit.

- It is impossible to tell who gave who HPV because the virus can lay dormant for weeks, months and even years. Females dont usually get tested for HPV unless they request it during a pap (they are starting to test now regardless because of how common HPV is). There is no test for males so they are often known as the "carriers" because this virus doesn't really effect them and they pass it along without knowing. 70% of Americans have this virus and more than half dont even know they have it.

This virus, in my doctor's words, is the "common cold" of STD's. So read as much as you can about the virus and keep a positive mind. Stress causes outbreaks (so I read) and can cause abnormal pap results, so get the informaiton and live life as you did before you found out.

Hope this was somewhat of help for you guys. Congrats on the baby!

rhiannon777 · 04-04-2008, 05:31 PM

I just wanted to confirm that the previous poster was correct. There is no way to tell how long someone has been affected (I've seen 80 year old women who haven't had sex since their husbands died 20 years ago get diagnosed). There's also no way to tell who infected who, as they don't really test men for it. You certainly have it, as it's very easily passed between partners.

Based on the fact that she has warts, I am assuming your wife has the low-risk kind of HPV. The low-risk kind is the kind that causes warts, but not cervical cancer. The warts themselves are not dangerous and there's really no other effect. It's pretty much an annoyance more than anything else.

The warts can be removed through various methods in the doctor's office. Other than that, and getting yearly pap smears to make sure nothing changes with her cervix, there's no treatment. There is no cure for HPV, although some women's bodies do fight off the virus after a certain time.

I've never heard of HPV affecting a baby. 85% of adults have HPV at some point in their lives, so if it was a problem, I'm sure we would have heard something by now.