[Question #2436] HPV Transmission

97 months ago

Hello Doctor. I'm a 25 y/o healthy female with no symptoms for any disease( apart from being a germophobic). I have this query related to HPV transmission. I've never been sexually active ( implying no intercourse, however, there has been kissing and fingering with my ex boyfriend ). So I went to an Obgyn specialist for a routine check up where she said everything was fine, but while leaving her clinic, I noticed that the sheets on the examination table from the previous patient were unchanged(totally grossed me out, but too late to bring it to the doctor's notice, as my vulvovaginal examination was already done). So ever since I've left the clinic, the thought of contracting HPV or any other communicable disease has been on my mind, as I fear my bare genitals must have come in contact with the used sheets from the previous patient. What are the chances that I might have got HPV infection? or any other infection? I've taken the 1st dose of quadrivalent HPV vaccine 3 weeks back. Also never had a pap smear since I've never been sexually active. Please give me your expert advice on this. It's really freaking me out. Thank You

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

97 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.

HPV and other STDs are much harder to transmit than you are worried about. They are sexually transmitted precisely because they require the intimate contact of sex, with direct contact of sexual body parts, for transmission to occur. If HPV could be transmitted by brief contact like you described, such as coming into contact with the virus on an exam table, it would also be transmitted by day to day non-intimate contact like shaking hands, serving food, or other personal contacts in daily life. Nobody has ever been known (or even suspected) to acquire HPV by nonsexual exposure in a doctor's office. For the same reasons, there is no risk for other STDs.

I encourage you to do some self-educational reading about HPV and other STDs. You should expect to acquire a genital HPV infection someday, likely more than once. The only people who do not are those who have only one lifetime sex partner, and when that person also has never had (and never will have) sex with anyone else. Obviously this is an unrealistic scenario for young adults in the western world. You should be vaccinated to protect you against the 9 HPV strains most likely to cause cancer, precancerous changes on pap smear, or warts. Then just don't worry about it. Getting and having HPV are normal, expected consequences of being sexually active. In any case, for sure you needn't be at all worried about the event you have described. (Having said all that, the doctor's office probably would appreciate hearing about the unpleasant, if not dangerous, lapse in hygiene and being reminded of the fears this can provoke in their patients.)

I hope this information has been helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

---

97 months ago

Thank You so much Dr. Handsfield for replying at your earliest. Reading your reply has relieved my anxiety over the incident and greatly put me at ease. Does it spread through kissing though? ( I tried reading different things from the internet about HPV, but there were contradictions on many pages. ) I asked my obgyn to get a pap smear done as I've turned 25. But she denied the need for it , since I have not been sexually active. Should I still get one for routine examination purposes?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

97 months ago

Thanks for the thanks; I'm glad to have helped.

HPV can infect the oral cavity and in theory therefore could be transmitted by kissing. However, few if any such cases are known; for example, oral warts are very rare. For practical purposes, kissing can be ignored as an HPV risk.

Your doctor is following standard guidelines: regular paps to begin at age 30, or earlier if sexually active. There is no need for you to have a pap smear or a pelvic examination. (This is slightly controversial. Although these are the standard authoritative guidelines, e.g. by the US Preventive Services Task Force, CDC, and other public health agencies, some gynecologists still believe in earlier routine pelvic examinations in young women. But it sounds like your doctor is in sync with the usuall recommendations.) I'm not a gynecologist and not up to speed on the pros and cons of these different approaches.

---