HPV - how did I get it? - Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Message Board

kwil4444 · 06-17-2008, 07:42 PM

I was just told today I tested postive for HPV. I understand that it's a sexually transmitted virus and can lay dormant for a few years before showing up. So I must have contracted it from one of 2 people that I've had sexual relations with in the last couple years. So I got it from one of them. And they got it from someone else they slept with. That all makes sense to me. So when a man gets infected with the virus how long does it remain

rhiannon777 · 06-17-2008, 11:54 PM

It can be with them for life, depending on how their immune system handles it. Yet another thing that makes it pretty much impossible to figure out who gave it to who and when.

newpatient485 · 06-18-2008, 08:13 AM

From what doctors understand, HPV stays in your body for life, though your immune system can suppress it so much that it wouldn't even show up on a test.

It's very hard to determine from whom or when you got infected though; there's no way to know if a man has it unless he gets warts, and I know there's at least one woman who posts here whose HPV was dormant for 16 years before she had any problems.