I have recently been diagnosed with HPV and abnormal cell changes. I am afraid I have possibly infected the other people I live with, due to my own negligence and feeling absolutely horrible.

1. Would us sharing showers or towels lead to possible expose? What about other things in the house such as chairs I may have sat on (nude) while just out of the shower?

Is my bed a place of possible exposure (where my partner and I have had sex)? We also frequently do our laundry together with dirty clothes being in the same hamper, could this have led to exposure?

2. There was one incident where a room mate did not know I spat my long time partners semen (who I also suspect shares my hpv infection) into a cup (to be disposed) where she accidentally drank out of thinking it was her own. Is there a possibility she could have been exposed through the semen present?

3. In the event of masturbation or any other personal genital touching of my own, could HPV be spread through me touching things after? Or washing my hands and hpv still being present under my fingernails? Basically If I touch my genitals what precautions should I take after to ensure I don't spread infection 

I'm so worried I could have possibly spread HPV to my room mate by leaving my things around. I have read online it can be spread through towel sharing and dirty bed linens. I also have young children who I wash in the shower and occasionally share towels with, I am afraid I may have spread it to them as well. 

Thank you for your response and taking the time to overlook my concerns.

Your questions indicate some pretty basic misunderstandings about HPV. The botom lin is that you should be having absolutely no worries, except to follow your doctor's advice about follow-up and perhaps treatment of the HPV infection causing your abnormal pap smear. Also, don't feel like you're somehow unusual or special. At least 90% of all people catch genital HPV at least once, and at least 25% of all women develop HPV related pap smear abnormalities at one time or another. Almost all do just fine, as long as they follow their doctors' follow-up advice. In other words, having genital HPV is a normal, expected fact of life in anybody who is not a virgin. 

As for transmission of your infection, if you have a current or recent sex partner, you should inform that person so that s/he can be on the alert for symptoms, and can seek care if tney develop warts or any other genital abnormality. However, there is absolutely no risk of transmission to other people from the sorts of things you ask about. To your specific questions:

1) HPV is not spread to other people except by sex. There is absolutely no risk of transmission through shared towels or clothing, and no risk from contaminated surfaces in your environment.

2) HPV also is not speard by sharing cups, glasses, or other eating utensils, even if contamined with saliva. Your roommate is not at all at risk from this event. (It is true that HPV DNA often can be identified under the fingernails of infected persons. But that doesn't mean it can be transmitted from those sites. It cannot -- or if it happens, it is so rare that it can be ignored.)

3) Self infection to a new are aof the body is called auto-inoculation. It does not occur with HPV, or only very rarely. You are immune to a new infection with the same HPV type you already have, and therefore cannot transmit it to yourself, anywhere on your body.

As for your closing statement, I would advsie you to be careful in searching about HPV online. Any sites that say it can be transmitted through towels or bed linens is just plain wrong. Anybody can write anything they want online. If you feel compelled to keep searching, please limit yourself to professional sites like academic medical center or universities, publiic health departments, or professionally moderated sites like this one. Excellent and accurate information is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/std) and the sponsor of this forum, the American Sexual Health Association (www.ashasxualhealth.org; look for the STD/STI link. You can even find videos that I have recorded myself.)

So please calm down and stop worrying! This isn't nearly as big a deal as you seem to think. Follow your doctor's advice to assure proper health care. Also get vaccinated to prevent infection with the 9 most troublesome HPV types with which you have not yet been infected. 

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

HHH, MD

Just want further clarification on a few things:

1. As far as no contamination of shared clothing, would dirty underwear in a hamper be a risk of exposure? Not just shared

2. In the event of my room mate I want to clarify that I had just recently had sex so there was a considerable amount of semen in my saliva that I then used the cup to dispose of and spit the semen + the saliva out into. Is the risk still the same?

3. Thank you for that information! I mean as far as me touching my genitals and then me touching objects in my environment or people's hands, is there a risk there for exposing them then?

I have taken showers with my children would this put them at risk? Also, could them sitting on my lap or sometimes they like to cuddle or run up and hug me from between my legs while I'm sitting down, could them brushing up against my genital area expose them? or falling into my genital region during playtime? 

Before you ask any further questions, please be sure you have carefully read all these replies; and I suggest you also read the information in the websites I provided above. Don't make such a big deal about having HPV. Among all your friends, coworkers, or others you know, among those your age, roughly half have HPV, and 90% have had it at one time or another. None of their kids or others in their households (not counting sex partners) ever were infected. Try to understand that getting and having HPV is a normal, expected, unavoidable aspect of having sex. Also see my advice above about vaccination.

I am in the middle of the process of HPV vaccination, thank you for your time I will try to relax and will focus on following up with my doctor.

I'm very glad to hear you're being immunized, Good move.

That completes two follow-up comments and replies included with each question and so concludes this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful.