Oh, the media! It can be so helpful sometimes in spreading the word about women's reproductive health concerns, and it can be so deadly by causing panic where there was ignorance before--not a good trade-off. I've had more women coming to me in the office asking about HPV (the human papilloma virus) than about all other STDs combined. The commercials for the new HPV vaccine are such a double-edged sword; I'm glad my patients are hearing about a potentially life-saving procedure, but I've had many girls weeping in my office when given a diagnosis of HPV. Telling them that 80% of women will be infected by the virus by age 50 seems to give them little comfort. "What am I going to tell my boyfriend?" one wailed. Another growled, "I'm going to KILL him.  Does this prove he's stepping out on me?"

When the crying and the threatening stops, here's what I tell them:

• There are many strains of HPV, but they fall into two categories: those that cause genital warts, and those that cause pap smear changes (and may lead to cancer).

•  In the vast majority of women (about 90%), HPV infections clear on their own, with no treatment necessary. I'll still repeat their pap smears more frequently, however, to make sure that they don't fall into the 10% with persistent or progressive infections.

• Without actually seeing warts, you can't tell when a partner is infected with HPV. Which also means that he doesn't likely know he's infected, either. So if you catch HPV from a partner, he hasn't knowingly infected you.  And he may have harbored the infection for months or even years--well before the two of you hooked up.

• If you get the diagnosis of HPV, any partner you've been with for a while likely has it, too (and there's no way to know who infected whom).  But you can't send him to the doctor to confirm this; at this time, there is no test approved to detect HPV in men. (So if he comes back from the doctor and claims that he tested negative, it only means that his doctor didn't find any visible warts).

I don't want to downplay how wonderful I think the new vaccine is. Whenever we can prevent serious illness by something as relatively simple as three injections, it is cause for celebration. And to be able to prevent cancer?? Extraordinary. I just wish more women realized that a diagnosis of HPV does not equal a diagnosis of cancer; that they're in very good company; and that it doesn't mean a break-up has to be in their future.
  
Have you been diagnosed with HPV, or have any friends with the diagnosis?  Did the doc explain what it means?