How can you get HPV?

Question

A friend of ours just got this disease and we where wondering how it is transmitted.. is it only threw sexual contact? please help.

Answer 1

My Dr told me it was transmitted sexually. I do have HPV & usually after 2 yrs it will be out of your system.  

Answer 2

HPV (like herpes) is transmitted through sexual contact, the difference between these and other STD's is that you can get it even if you use a condom.  And you don't need to have penetration to get it, so if you rub on someone that has it you can get it.  And unlike most other STD's there really aren't any symptoms of HPV (unless you have the low risk kind which causes warts).  Most girls don't know they have it for years when all of a sudden they have a pap smear come back abnormal and the doctor sends the sample back for HPV testing to come back positive.  And you can have it for years and it can dormant so it will not come up on tests.  

If your friend came up HPV positive the doctor should have told her if it was low risk (wart kind) or high risk (which puts her at risk for cancer).  If it is high risk tell her to make sure she keeps up with her appointments.  They may want to do a colposcopy to biopsy her cells to make sure they aren't changing and if they are they will want to do cryotherapy or leep to get rid of the bad cells. I just found out I have HPV a few months ago (don't know if I got it from my ex-husband of 10 years or my fiance of 1 1/2 years), but since finding out in May I have had 2 paps, 1 colposcopy and cryotherapy, and I am doing okay, so your friend will be fine.  Tell her she can email me if she needs more info or someone to talk to.  Good luck.

Answer 3

HPV is a virus that lives in the skin. It can be transmitted through direct sexual contact -- primarily vaginal and anal s*x, but oral s*x is also a risk. It is also transmitted during other sexual activity with intimate contact (genital rubbing or activity causing friction between skin).

Ejaculation is not required for transmission to occur, as skin-skin rubbing can transmit the infection.

Mother to child transmission during delivery is rare, but possible.