[Question #12853] HPV distant past

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4 months ago
Hi doctor, I have some questions about HPV. I don't speak English well, but I'm trying to get my question across. I've read a lot of posts on your site, but I wanted to ask. I had a lesion on my penis that I don't know exactly what it looked like about 20 years ago, and I didn't consult a doctor at the time. Now that I'm about to get married, I remembered that lesion and searched for it on the internet. When the search showed that it might be HPV, I panicked just two months before my wedding, which made me postpone the marriage. Is it possible that I could still be contagious to my wife 20 years after the lesion disappears? I'm going to get engaged to a 34-year-old virgin girl, and I'm 40. I read a post on your site similar to mine, No. 512. Does it apply to me? I also want to inform you that informing the other party, the wife, about the vaccine will damage the relationship and cause anxiety for the wife. Thank you.
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4 months ago
Can you get my marriage done without even thinking about it?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
4 months ago
Welcome to our forum. Thank you for your question.

If you had not been sexually active before then, for sure it wasn't a wart. Aside from that, I have no way of knowing whether your distant past penile lesion was a wart. But even if it was, with no recurrence over 20 years, it is extremely unlikely you have an active HPV infection and I doubt you would be able to infect your wife. And if you have had other sexual experiences since then, even with out symptoms, you probably have HPV; 90% of all humans acquire genital HPV at one time or another, often several times.

Should your future wife be vaccinated against HPV? Maybe yes, depending on your sexual lifestyle over the last 20 years. If you have had no sex at all, then there is no need. If you have, it would be wise for her to receive the vaccine. I'm sorry you are letting your social (and religious?) indoctrination affect your judgment in a way that might affect your future wife's health. 

I'll be happy to comment further if you would like to tell me more about your sexual exposures over the years, if any. Without that information, there is no more I can say. But I hope these comments are helpful in the meantime.

HHH, MD
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