Can a male have both the low-risk genital wart causing HPV and the high-risk cervical causing strands of HPV?

2 Comments

1. tarnishedsilverheart says:

   November 13, 2009 at 2:48 am

   Yes, many men and women with visible genital warts also carry a co-infection with high risk HPV types.

   Genital warts
   Condylomata bearing HPV-6 or -11 have identical clinical
   manifestations and histology [2]. Recent studies have shown that about
   100% of GWs are caused by either HPV-6 or -11 but that 20–50% of
   lesions also contain co-infections with HR HPV types [3] and [4]. GWs
   do not usually result in major morbidity or mortality, but cause
   significant psychological morbidity and very substantial healthcare
   costs. Occasionally GWs persist for long periods of time and, rarely,
   such long-standing lesions may progress to malignancy. GWs are highly
   infectious, with a transmission rate of about 65% within sexual
   partnerships from an infected to a susceptible sexual partner, and an
   incubation period of between 3 weeks and 8 months, with the majority
   developing warts at around 2–3 months [3]. Once GWs have developed,
   they may show minimal change over time, become more numerous or
   larger, or regress spontaneously. The majority of placebo-controlled
   GW therapy trials show low rates of regression (around 5% complete
   clearance) in the short term, although in one study over 16 weeks 20%
   of women and 5% of men using placebo completely cleared their warts,
   and 38% of women and 22% of men using placebo cleared over 50% of
   their baseline warts [3]. Regressing warts contain significantly more
   CD4 positive T cells, both within the stroma underlying the lesions
   and the condylomata themselves, and greater expression of activation
   markers [3]. There is no report of the rate of spontaneous regression
   that may occur in the longer term. Following GW clearance with
   therapy, recurrence is common and is often seen within 3 months in 25%
   of cases, although rates of up to 67% have been observed [3]. In
   clinical practice recurrences are often seen at sites of previous
   lesions, and in these cases HPV infection in stem cells or
   slow-turnover cells at the site of previous clearance has persisted
   and then reactivated. The proportion of HPV-6/11 infections that are
   either completely cleared or persist in a latent form after clinical
   resolution is unknown, and, indeed, animal models suggest that both
   outcomes can occur [3].
2. Eva A says:

   November 13, 2009 at 2:48 am

   Yes, you can carry multiple strains of the virus at the same time. Make sure your partner gets a pap smear at least once a year, so that any cervical changes can be treated before causing cancer.