Does Hpv always give you an abnormal pap?
May 1, 2009 by admin
On May 22 I had a pap smear that came back normal. The first time I ever had sex with my boyfriend was somewhere between May 25th and 28th. In early August I noticed some warts so I went to get another pap smear. That one came back abnormal, and I have hpv/Genital Warts. I haven't slept with anyone except by bf since my normal pap. He says he got tested and he was fine.
Is it possible that somene I slept with before my bf gave me HPV and it just didn't show up on the first pap? Or is my bf lying and it was him?
So I guess my question in Does HPV always give you an abnormal pap??
HPV does not always cause an abnormal Pap smear. This can be for several reasons:
-Though it is unknown whether the virus actually disappears or is merely suppressed within the body, HPV has the potential to be silent for a long period of time and then “re-active” itself. Thus, you may have normal Pap tests while the virus lay dormant in your body, and then an abnormal Pap if the virus decides to reactivate.
-For the Pap smear, a sample of cervical cells is placed on a slide, which is looked at under a microscope by lab technicians. The lab professional uses his or her judgment and past experience to decide whether the cells look normal or abnormal. Thus, you can receive “false negative” results – meaning you are told your Pap is normal when abnormal cells actually exist. Pap tests can also be “false positive,” which means that you are told your cervical cells look abnormal when they are actually healthy.
There is an HPV test that will determine whether you have a high-risk type of the virus. ‘High-risk’ HPV causes cervical cells to become abnormal in the first place. If left untreated, high-risk strains of HPV has the potential to turn into cervical cancer.
You can find more information on HPV and Pap tests here:
http://www.thehpvtest.com/under-30/HPV-test-the-pap-HPV-faq.html
http://thehpvtest.com/under-30/HPV-facts-HPV-virus-FAQ.html
-Tracey from theHPVtest.com