I still have major concerns for HPV . How  little risk was this one time protected encounter ?   Ive read some studies that couples having sex 2 times a week with one of them having HPV , 20 % tranfer rate in 6 months . I understand everybody gets it but I am still concerned about this encounter .  Just trying to wrap my head around this . If the encounter with an active HPV infection is 100% transfer then a condom makes it 40% likely ?   

When one person has genital herpes due to HSV2, the average transmission risk for unprotected vaginal averages somewhere around once for every 1,000 or fewer expposures; it's much less for you, having used a condom; and 90% of new infections cause symptoms within a week. So at 8 days with no symptoms, the chance you caught herpes is nearly zero.

The risk of infection from any single exposure isn't known, but it's nowhere near 100%; probably well under 10%, and only if your partner were infected. For any particular exposure, condoms are probably better than 60% protective. And new HPV infections are uncommon after age 26 (which presumably applies, since you've been married 18 years). (That's why the HPV vaccines were not studied and are not recommended in people over that age.) In the event you were infected, it is unlikely you or your wife would ever know it. And in the minority of cases that cause symptoms (e.g. warts) or other abnormalities (like an abnormal pap smear), the problem typically shows up a year or more later. And HPV infections can recur from initial infections years earlier. So if you or your wife were ever to have an HPV problem, it would not be possible to trace it to this or any other sexual exposure.

So all things considered, HPV really isn't a serious consideration in this setting. Do your best not to worry about it.

Does that help? Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

1 if the risk was 10% and condoms reduce 60%   Would. It be 4% chance of infection? Would you consider this a low risk encounter ?  Why is HPV so common if  this is the case ?

2 I guess my big thing is I really don't understand HPV that well . So the majority of infections don't cause abnormal Pap smears . I always thought that if you have HPV , you will have an abnormal pap until it clears . 

3  you mentioned that it is unlikely that myself or my wife will ever know , can you elaborate on this . Do they check for HPV at Pap smears and wouldn't she find out ?  

Thanks 

2) Probably fewer than 10% of HPV infections in women cause abnormal paps. It varies widely between different HPV types, of which there are more than 100 that commonly infect the genitalarea.

3) Most HPV infections never show up in paps or other tests. I've given you several of the reasons you probably did not catch HPV and, if you did, you'll never know; and even if that happens, it will not be possible to relate it to this particular exposure. For example, many (most?) abnormal paps in women are not from newly acquired HPV, but from infections they acquired years previously.

There are plenty of good online sources for detailed HPV information. Start with ASHA, the organizer of this forum (www.ashasexualhealth.org) and CDC (www.cdc.gov/std). However, I strongly suggest you not delve too deeply. It really isn't important in regard to your exposure, and it is clear you are obsessed and anxious about it -- and obsessed, anxious people tend to have difficulty putting complex information into context. For sure stick with professional agencies and their online resources.

Although the large majority of HPV infections never cause visible abnormalities or other symptoms, this isn't true for HPV types 6 and 11, which cause nearly 90% of genital warts. Only women have been studied to evaluate appearance of warts after acquiring HPV 6/11, and the best studies suggest that 50-60% develop visible warts, typically 3-12 months after exposure. No data are available in men, but there is no reason to suspect a major difference compared with women. Whether or not visible warts develop, it is true that the immune system clears them up. However, this can take several months or longer, and visible warts should be treated to speed things up.