Hi Rske

I’m sorry to hear you had a positive hpv test but it’s very good news there are no abnormal cells. Once you have hpv, you will always have it but it is possible that the virus goes dormant. Most of the sexually active population will carry the hpv virus, but for most it will cause no issues at all. It may go dormant but may reactivate at any time, which is why it’s important to follow up on smear tests.

The virus is passed by sexual contact, so if either yourself or your partner have had sexual contact with any other person prior to your relationship you could have picked it up at that point. If you have been having smear tests which were negative for hpv, it was dormant before and a positive test now shows it is active. There is no way to find out how you got the virus, and no test for men.

Having Hpv does not in itself produce any symptoms, so I would check with your doctor about your other issues to put your mind at rest. Having a strong immune system helps to clear the virus, but it will always be in your system as there is no treatment for it to remove the virus permanently. Hopefully, however, it will not cause you any issues in the future. x