I had HPV warts removed 23 years ago from the shaft of my penis.  They used a laser of some sort (so long ago I don't remember exactly).  I remember the doctor saying I likely wouldn't see another one.  I have not had another one since.  I was with the same woman for 20 years before getting divorced 2 years ago.  She never had any symptoms.   I never really even thought about it for so long.  I have since started a new relationship and we are having unprotected sex.  I wasn't even thinking about this until now but want to understand the risks.

Welcome to the Forum.  I'll do my best to help.  Straight to your questions:

1.  Laser type therapy of warts and HPV infections is a destructive therapy.  The fact that your warts have not recurred likely means that your therapy was entirely successful and there should be  no risk for that infection to recur at this time.  FYI however, HPV is widespread- over 80% of sexually active adults will have HPV, thus it is reasonable to presume that you and any current/future partners may already have other non-wart forming HPV infections.  AIt is not something to worry about.  I would encourage you to take a look at other interactions on our forum regarding HPV which I think may provide additional useful information.

2.  I would presume that you are not contagious for the infection you had treated decades ago. 

3.  Thus I would not worry about spread. Your wart virus was likely destroyed by the treatment

4.  Repetitive- as I said above, I would not worry about recurrence/reactivation. 

5.  Disclosure is a frequent topic of discussion of the Forum.  I see no need for disclosure of a genital wart infection which occurred years ago and was successfully treated.

I hope that this information is helpful. EWH

---

Thank you doctor.  That was very helpful.  There is a lot of conflicting information out there around clearance, transmission probability and when to disclose.  Disclosure especially is a sensitive topic on the forums.  Some folks really make you feel like a monster for even thinking about not disclosing regardless of the situation.   My take from your response is that the chances of me still having the virus and then transmitting it to someone are very very small.  In that case I am leaning toward not disclosing.  

I support your inclination to not disclose that you had warts which were successfully treated more than two decades.  Even if your infection had been more recent, we tend to be, at most, ambivalent about disclosure and suggest that clients handle it on a person-by-person basis depending on the level of insight a potential partner may have.  Since virtually every sexually active person has or has had HOV and since the disease is so innocuous for nearly everyone who is infected, there is little to be gained from disclosure to a partner who may misunderstand or have unrealistic concerns.  For that reason, while in a perfect world, disclosure would be routine, from a practical perspective that is not the case and we do not feel strongly that disclosure is crucial.  EWH
---