Proving that HPV is absolutely gone is, of course, impossible. An alternative hypothesis is that HPV can exist in a low-level persistent state and can reactivate later in life and cause disease.
Research has found that it can take 10 to 20 years, or even longer, for HPV-infected cervical cells to develop into a cancerous tumor. Among women whose cervical cells are infected with high-risk HPV, several factors increase the chance that the infection will be long lasting and lead to precancerous cervical cells.
The most common reason for cell changes to come back would be your immune system not getting rid of high-risk HPV. We don't yet know why some people can clear HPV and others can't.
In most cases (9 out of 10), HPV goes away on its own within two years without health problems. But when HPV does not go away, it can cause health problems like genital warts and cancer. Genital warts usually appear as a small bump or group of bumps in the genital area.
Anyone who has had sex can get HPV, even if it was only with only one person, but infections are more likely in people who have had many sex partners. Even if a person delays sexual activity until marriage, or only has one partner, they are still at risk of HPV infection if their partner has been exposed.
Around 90% of HPV infections clear within 2 years. For a small number of women and people with a cervix, their immune system will not be able to get rid of HPV. This is called a persistent infection. A persistent HPV infection causes the cells of the cervix to change.
What is the cause of reactivation? Among immunosuppressed individuals, oncogenic HPV present for many years at very low levels may be responsible for the high rate of HPV-related disease. The high rate of disease among these individuals may result from reactivation of low-level persistent HPV as immunity wanes [13].
Several factors are important for the regression of HPV manifestation/infection, among which is psychological stress which can prolong the duration and severity of HPV disease. Stress hormones may reactivate latent tumor viruses, stimulate viral oncogene expression, and inhibit antiviral host responses.
The rate of recurrence of genital HPV infection in healthy men — depending on the type — is 20% to 31%, according to researchers. HPV recurrence appears to be influenced by high-risk sexual behavior, they said.
When the body's immune system can't get rid of an HPV infection with oncogenic HPV types, it can linger over time and turn normal cells into abnormal cells and then cancer. About 10% of women with HPV infection on their cervix will develop long-lasting HPV infections that put them at risk for cervical cancer.
Most human papillomavirus (HPV) infections regress spontaneously, whereas 10–15% of them may progress to precancerous lesions and then cancer with persistent HPV infections.
Most studies of HPV persistence have defined persistence as the detection of the same HPV type at 2–3 consecutive visits, each 2–24 months apart [10–18].
Can you pass HPV back and forth with your partner? – unlike STIs like chlamydia, it is unlikely that you will pass the same strain of HPV back and forth with your partner.
HPV Very Rarely Becomes Cervical Cancer
For 90 percent of women with HPV, the condition will clear up on its own within two years. Only a small number of women who have one of the HPV strains that cause cervical cancer will ever actually develop the disease.
But women's risk for HPV is not over yet: There is sometimes a second peak around the age of menopause. Why? A study released early in 2013 of women 35 to 60 years old found that HPV in women at or after menopause may represent an infection acquired years ago.
HPV-related cancers often take years to develop after getting an HPV infection. Cervical cancer usually develops over 10 or more years. There can be a long interval between being infected with HPV, the development of abnormal cells on the cervix and the development of cervical cancer.
They may itch but rarely cause pain. These warts appear as darkened areas of the skin with slightly raised, flat tops. They can crop up anywhere on the body. These warts may appear irritated, hard, and grainy.
HPV spreads through sexual contact and is very common in young people — frequently, the test results will be positive. However, HPV infections often clear on their own within a year or two. Cervical changes that lead to cancer usually take several years — often 10 years or more — to develop.
Unfortunately, once you have been infected with HPV, there is no treatment that can cure it or eliminate the virus from your system. A hysterectomy removes the cervix, which means that the risk of developing cervical cancer because of persistent HPV infection will essentially be eliminated.
If you test positive for HPV 16/18, you will need to have a colposcopy. If you test positive for HPV (but did not have genotyping performed or had genotyping and tested negative for 16/18), you will likely have a colposcopy.
HPV is very common. It is estimated that up to 80% of people in Australia have HPV at some time in their lives. Many people who have HPV have no idea that they have been exposed to the infection.
In general, HPV is thought to be responsible for more than 90% of anal and cervical cancers, about 70% of vaginal and vulvar cancers, and 60% of penile cancers.