Can you have HPV and it not show up on pap test?

Question

I just found out I have HPV, which I got from my Husband. My Husband has been unfaithful to me in the past which he was honest about (please, no need to tell me I'm stupid for staying with him) but he told me about his being unfaithful 18 months ago and I had a pap test a few months after and everything came back fine. Now I just had another one a year later and it came back that I have HPV. Is there any way this could be from when he cheated on me before and it just didn't show up in my last test or would he have had to cheat on me again within this year for it to come up positive? Thanks so much for your help!

Another question. My sister-in-law must be in denial that her precious brother could have passed an STD to someone and thinks I passed it to him... When I've only slept with one other person (and he was a virgin at a time) and that was SEVEN years ago! So she's saying people can get this if you have sex at a young age... Is that even possible?!

Answer 1

Most likely from a recent exposure, not one over a year ago. Note this clinical research:

QUOTE
How soon after exposure to HPV will symptoms appear?
Warts typically appear within 3 weeks to 6 months after sexual contact with an infected person, but they can also take years to appear. This time period makes it difficult to track the infection as it's passed from one partner to the next.
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/sexual_health/sti/hpv.htm#5
END QUOTE

Given the short time frame for symptms to potentially appear, then positive test results would be within a much shorter time frame. Even if it took years for the actual symptoms, the infection and resulting positive testing would be less than the 3 weeks. Given your PAP smear was a year later, tough to nail down when he got it.

Also, are you confident the first test was accurate?

Answer 2

he was cheating again
hpv is not like aids where it takes a while to show up
once you come in contact it will show up right away on a pap

you might want to see a doctor and a divorce attorney

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sorry had to edit my answer after reading some of the other people's answers
some things to note:

there are over 80 types of HPV
most women are infected with the types that do not cause warts
only 4 types cause cervical cancer
and though it can take a long time for the warts to appear (if thats the type you have) the infection will be caught on a pap right away
also pap smears are now 100% effective for discovering HPV

if you need more info check it out on

www.wikipedia.com just put HPV in your search browser and it will tell you everything you need to know

and lastly yes paps do detect HPV
when they swab you they send it to the lab and check for everything. cells infected with HPV look different then the normal cervix cells that are not infected

Answer 3

Pap tests only show abnormal cervical changes, they do not detect the presence of the virus. If your Pap was normal last year, that means that you either didn't have the virus at the time or the virus had not caused changes in your cervix yet. So, YES, you can have HPV and it not show up on a pap test. Your gut will have to tell you the answer to the question of whether or not he cheated again.

Congrats to you for getting regular exams, and now that you know that you have HPV, DON'T EVER SKIP A PAP! As you probably already know, HPV can cause cervical cancer. I hope that this knowledge won't cause fear for you, but use this knowledge to take charge of your health care and be aware!

Answer 4

It is definitely possible that the current test results are from the same extra-marital affair. A pap test does not test for HPV in particular- it only tests for abnormal cervical cells. You could have had HPV and it took awhile for changes to happen. For what it's worth, my doctor told me that it can take up to 10-15 yrs for any changes to occur (although it can happen quickly as well).

Changes could have occured since your last pap, especially if you have had any extra stresses or illnesses that could have weakened your immune system (even bad colds/flus). Your body may have successfully be keeping the virus at bay before.

And as far as I know there are no specific blood tests to determine the strain as others have suggested.

Good luck to you.

Answer 5

It can be dormant in your body for years, so you could have gotten from the first person you slept with.......what pap smears check for are irregular cells, which are a possible side effect of HPV, and once you have HPV, you will always have it, it just may not always cause you to have abnormal cells on your cervix.....you could have a strain of HPV that may cause you to get irregular cells just once, or several times over the years....it's really impossible to predict

if you want to find out what strain(s) of HPV you have, you will need a separate blood test.....

Answer 6

it could be either or because they say alot of times hpv does not show up on those tests it was on tyra the ABC's of STD's they said pap tests aren't really reliable for hpv in most cases and that is probably because they aren't looking but anyway i hope you are okay and this goes away and does not turn into cirvical cancer.

Answer 7

I believe it could have been lying dormant and it just showed up, but it is also possible that he gave it to you.

The American Social Health Associateion seems to agree.

It sucks to have HPV but they can watch and get rid of it, so don't worry now that they caught it. It is VERY common .. "Nearly three out of four Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 have been infected with genital HPV in their lifetime. "

Good luck.