Yet another HPV question

Francis · 02-09-2001, 02:26 AM

I am male, and I had unprotected sex with a girl a few months ago (although not much, just rubbed my body with her with some direct genital contacts). From what I have read, I understand that I could have been infected with HPV, even with this limited contact.

There is no visible sign so far (4 months after). How to know if I have it or not? At the STD clinic near my home, they do not want to check me for this as there are no obvious symptoms.

Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Francis (edited 02-09-2001).]

sdp · 02-09-2001, 02:31 PM

It's virually impossible to find out. The virus only infects your skin and does not travel into the blood stream etc.. I read that skin samples can be taken to determine if it is infected, but where do you take the sample??? You can take a sample in one spot yet the infected spot can be a couple of milimeters away. There are over 50 types of HPV and many are asymptomatic. So basically you won't know unless you break out and who knows when that will happen. See the post below where I posted an article about HPV.

[url="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum108/HTML/000022.html"]http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum108/HTML/000022.html[/url]

FD · 02-09-2001, 10:14 PM

Actually, having been through this myself recently, there ARE tests available out there for men who show no visible warts and are a-symptomatic.

After having my colposcopy and cryotherapy I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to re-expose myself to the virus with my husband. I asked my gynecologist if there was anything that could be done, and she said there is a test that is the equivalent of the colposcopy for men. It works the same way as a colposcopy, in that they swab the potentially infected tissue with a vinegar solution, but they don't take actual skin samples. If HPV is present, the solution will cause a reaction. My gyn said basically they take a cloth soaked with the solution and apply it to the potentially affected area. She also said that any general practice doc should be able to perform the test if asked. However, we haven't checked with our's yet to see if that's true....but the free clinic in our area does perform the test.

I thought this was really good news...at least in our case. If you are concerned, call your doc and ask about it, or call the local free clinic in your area and see if they do the testing. Good luck.