Women's Health

Can HPV go away?

03/20/2006

Question:

I was told during my pregnancy that I had HPV. I never had a colposcopy done because I was pregnant. However, ever since my pregnancy 5 years ago, my PAPs have all been normal, without any medical intervention. I am seeing a different GYN doc now than when I was pregnant. She states I probably never had HPV. Is this possible, or do I have it and it is simply laying dormant?

Answer:

HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) infection is a sexually transmitted virus that is associated with both genital warts and cervical cancer. It is most common in young, sexually active women. The prevalence decreases with age.

Different types of HPV have different effects: low risk types cause genital warts, whereas high risk types can cause cervical cancer. HPV is a transient infection in most cases, and can spontaneously resolve over time. Some patients may have persistent infection leading to changes in the cervix, but this is less common. Therefore, it is possible for HPV to appear only transiently in your cervix. However, the standard of PAP smears has shifted so that we can now test for HPV on PAP smear results. This is an important method of determining whether you are currently infected or not. At your next visit with your Gynecologist, you should ask him/her to test you for HPV.

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Response by:

Shazia Ahmed Khan, MD
Formerly, Assistant Professor
Division of General Internal Medicine
MetroHealth Medical Center
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University