Three years ago I was diagnosed with an anal wart.  Was treated and it cleared up.  I was under the impression that after a certain time period your body has "rid" itself and no need to tell future partners.  I'm currently 30 months pregnant and a wart appeared in the same area.  Apparently this is common when pregnant/low immune system which is confusing because I though my body had taken care if it.  Questions:1.Since I got a another wart three years later, will I always get them or has it just reoccurred and after a certain amount of time once it it treated I don't have to worry again/tell future partners? 2.The baby's father is worried about bumps near his penis.  Of course he can go seek medical attention but we haven't had physical contact in over a month, could I have given it to him even though I didn't notice a new wart until this week?

It is true that the immune system effectively suppresses warts and HPV, usually to a point at which the virus or its DNA cannot be detected and the virus probably not transmissible to partners etc. Whether some (most?) HPV infections are truly gone, with no potential for recurrence, isn't known for sure. But clearly at least some infections remain in dormant form, kept in check by the immune system. However, for exactly the reasons you state, pregnancy is a common time for recurrence of warts. But this does not indicate you are at increased risk for additional recurrences when not pregnant. I discuss your current partner in the following paragraph -- for future ones, there probably is also little risk. Assuming your wart clears up and there is no recurrence in the next few months after your baby is born, you probably will not transmit HPV to partners.

If the "bumps" on your partner's penis look like warts, that's probably what they are. But there are many sorts of bumps and irregularities of the penile skin, and he might just be a bit anxious because of your diagnosis. Indeed, you can safely assume he has been repeatedly exposed to your HPV infection, which probably was active and transmissible for a long time (weeks? months?) before the actual wart appeared. In fact, it is likely he was infected long before this, since almost all sexually active persons get HPV, usually several times, including infection with the wart-causing types. In other words, he probably already has had and is immune to the HPV causing your wart. In general, regular sex partners do not need to change their sexual exposures to one another when one has warts or other HPV manifestations, such as an abnormal pap smear. In other words, he is not at increased risk of HPV just because you have developed a visible wart. He should see a doctor to check out the bumps, but in the meantime there are no restrictions on what sort of sexual practices give you mutual pleasure. (Recognizing of course that many women become less sexual as pregnancy progresses.)

I believe those comments cover your questions, but let me know if anything isn't clear. Best wishes for the remainder of your pregnancy and for a healthy baby!

HHH, MD

I would have said exactly what your doctor did last year. However, I'm sure that she would recognize that her reassurance was based on probabilities, not certainties. I've already said that a recurrence of warts (or other signs of HPV) during pregnancy probably does not predict a higher risk of recurrence in the future when not pregnant or otherwise immunodeficient. There are no good data on exactly the declining risk of recurrence or transmission as time passes, but probably the risk becomes near zero after 6-12 months, somewhat longer for high risk (not wart-causing) HPV types.

As for warning future partners, some people would say something to future partners, but others would not. HPV is so common (90% of us are infected at least once, usually several times) that any future sex partner can be assumed to have been repeatedly exposed and probably infected. Exposure to one more person with current or past HPV (you) will not materially affect his (or her) risk of catching HPV or having an important medical outcome from it.

Does that help a bit further?