2) I had a supposedly single genital wart 4 months ago that i got cryod off, now i think i have another one in a different location A LOT smaller, barely visible but turned white when applying vinegar, if i have this cryod off, will the timeframe of 6 months clearance reset from this day?

3) After how many weeks, according to best estimate, is it safe to have PROTECTED sex and not transmit the virus to a new partner?

4) How likely am i to have multiple hpv strains if it is confirmed i have one for sure i.e hpv 6/11. Can i clear one kind of hpv while not clearing the other? 

1) The acetowhite test is very poor. HPV infected tissues often do not turn white; and whiteness sometimes shows up with non-HPV skin problems. It can be a useful test for a trained expert -- for example, applying acetic acid to an HPV infected cervix to guide sites to biopsy. But it's very poor on external skin; once it a while it may help an experienced dermatologist with diagnosis, but it really should never be used by non medically trained persons, and certainly not for self diagnosis of warts or other HPV problems.

2) There are no hard and fast data on time to resolution of HPV. Professional opinion often cites 6 months, and we have done so on this forum. But many warts clear up sooner than that; and others take longer.

3) Even with confirmed HPV infection, often there is no need to stop having unprotected sex -- especially with a regular, ongoing partner who probably was repeatedly exposure before warts or HPV were diagnosed. Condoms aren't very good at HPV prevention, because usually there is skin contact above the condom. Any new female partners should be informed when someone has warts, so she can make a decision whether or not to proceed with sex -- with or without condoms. (Remember that catching and having HPV is a normal, expected part of human sexuality:  everyone gets infected at one time or another, mostly without serious health consequences. Vaccination against HPV is much more important than sexual decision making itself, condom use, etc.

4) Good question but no good answer. Many people with HPV are infected with one or more types of HPV, but I am unaware of precise data on the proportion of men with genital warts who have HPV strains in addition to the one causing the warts. As a rough guess, there's probably a 20-40% chance. As for clearance of HPV, it tends to be longer for the high-risk (potentially cancer causing) HPV types than for those with lower risk.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

1) If i were to stay away from penetrative sex from my virgin partner until she gets the vaccine, what are the chances of me infecting her with other activities? I.E fingering, her giving me a handjob etc? Any precautions that i should take to reduce the chance of transmission as much as possible?

2) If hpv clears in estimated 2 years, why do some people have warts on hands/face since childhood or many years and dont go away until they get them removed? Is having persistent warts on hands/face a sign that body might not clear genital hpv infections as well?

3) What are the chances that i will transmit the virus to a virgin woman if i have protected sex with her ONE time?

4) If the woman i’m seeing who’s never had sex before gets the first shot of vaccine? How many weeks after that is a safe bet to start engaging in sex without the risk of transmission? If she is fully vaccinated down the line, how likely am i to still transmit the virus?

2) The two years is only an estimate of the average time for clearance of most high risk HPV infections. But some infections are gone in a month or two, and other last many years. Prolonged skin warts does not necessarily mean genital HPV infection will also persist a long time.

3) There is no way to know the exact risk, but it's not zero -- even with a condom. Maybe 10% (as a guess)?

1) Is the rate of transmission the same with an active GW lesion as compared to removed GWs? Can i still transmit the virus to same degree if i had my GW removed weeks before having sex?

2) Can the virus transmit to a virgin partner if she touches my penis, and then touches herself on her vagina? How rare/probable is this?

3) Does soap or sanitizer kill the hpv virus?

4) Final albeit the most pressing question i had, what should the vaccine schedule look like? Should the 2nd shot be administered after 1 month or 2 months? Gardasil 9’s website says 2nd shot after 2 months of 1st shot yet i’ve read other articles stating 2nd shot after 1 month? Does dosing schedule effect efficacy?

Thank you for all the Docs on this website. I hope you realize the impact your work has had on people’s lives. Hopefully i will make it out of this without infecting my partner who’s a virgin. 

X) If a person is vaccinated and is not infected, would having unprotected sex with an infected partner repeatedly increase their chances of being infected with the virus on one of the several occasions?

That concludes this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful.