You should have the next test in 5 years. You may need to come back sooner if you had abnormal results in the past. Positive HPV test result: High-risk HPV was found. Your healthcare provider will recommend follow-up steps you need to take, based on your specific test result.
Women age 21-65 should get a Pap smear every 3 years beginning at age 21. Women age 30 and older can consider Pap testing every 5 years if the procedure is combined with human papillomavirus (HPV)—a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer.
In fact, many women with HPV will never have an abnormal pap smear. That being said, routine screening with your provider is the only way to follow any changes to the cervix that could lead to cervical cancer.
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.
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.
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.
If you got a positive HPV test and your Pap test was abnormal, your doctor will probably follow up with a colposcopy. Try to see a physician who specializes in this procedure. During a colposcopy, your doctor will look more closely at the cervix, vagina or vulva with a special microscope called a colposcope.
You're contagious for as long as you have the virus — regardless of whether or not you have symptoms. For example, even if your genital warts have disappeared, you can still spread the HPV that caused them if the virus is still in your body. Once your immune system destroys the virus, you're no longer contagious.
Depending on the type of HPV that you have, the virus can linger in your body for years. In most cases, your body can produce antibodies against the virus and clear the virus within one to two years. Most strains of HPV go away permanently without treatment.
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 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.
The most common reason for a negative Pap test with a positive HPV result is that the patient has an HPV infection, but the infection is not causing any cellular abnormalities. Cellular abnormalities caused by HPV can be quite focal on the cervix, while the HPV infection can be more widespread.
A positive HPV test means you do have an HPV type that may be linked to cervical cancer. This does not mean you have cervical cancer now. But it could be a warning. The specific HPV type may be identified to determine the next step.
Usually, the body's immune system gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years. This is true of both oncogenic and non-oncogenic HPV types.
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.
Abnormal Pap Smears are typically caused by strains of the Human Papilloma Virus, HPV. An abnormal pap smear result does not mean you have cervical cancer. High risk strains can cause more serious cellular changes. Typically, both high and low risk strains of HPV go away within 24 months.
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.
Most cases of HPV infection tend to be cleared by the immune system without intervention 1–2 years post-exposure; it is thought that persistent infection is most likely due to a lack of HPV-specific T-cell immunity [74].
Patients with HPV-unrelated tumors experienced significantly higher levels of fatigue over the course of the study (p=0.0097, Table 2), especially at pre-IMRT (p=0.001) and three-month post-IMRT (p=0.002), compared to those with HPV-related tumors (Figure 1a).
Some HPV infections can lead to cancer
Most HPV infections (9 out of 10) go away by themselves within 2 years. But sometimes, HPV infections will last longer and can cause some cancers. HPV infections can cause cancers of the: Cervix, vagina, and vulva in women.
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.
The cervix is numbed with local anesthesia. An electrically charged loop made of thin wire is inserted through the speculum and up to the cervix. As the loop is passed across the cervix, it cuts away a thin layer of surface tissue, removing the abnormal cells.
HPV testing can be performed for women with a Pap test (commonly known as a Pap smear), which is a screening test for cervical cancer. HPV testing is only available for women, and it can determine if HPV is present. If present, the test can determine whether the HPV is a low- or a high-risk type.
Q: How long after exposure does it usually take for something to be detectable? A: Changes consistent with HPV can usually be detected within 3-6 months after exposure to the infection.