Men's Health Can Women Get HPV?

The answer is yes - even if a man looks completely healthy and has no symptoms, a woman may still be infected with HPV after close contact with him.

I met such a girl at the gynecology clinic last week. She was 29 years old and had been married for three years. Every year, the routine gynecological test was negative for HPV. This year, the screening suddenly showed that the high-risk type 18 was positive. The TCT also showed atypical squamous cells. She shed tears while sitting in the clinic and said that she had never had other sexual partners. Her husband had been exercising all year round and rarely caught colds. He could not figure out how he could be infected. Later, she asked her husband to do a male HPV test, and sure enough, he was found to be positive for the same model. Her husband was confused when he took the report and said that he didn't even have a red spot on his genitals and didn't feel any discomfort at all. How could he be carrying the virus?

This is really not an isolated case. It is essentially caused by the characteristics of HPV and the differences in the physiological structure of men and women. The male genitals are exposed structures and the skin is dry. It is difficult for the HPV virus to multiply and cause lesions here. More than 80% of men are infected asymptomatically and transiently. They will neither develop genital warts nor suffer from pain, itching and other discomforts. Many people can get rid of the virus in two or three months by relying on their own immunity, and they are not aware that they have been infected throughout the process. But it is during this carrier period without any symptoms that HPV will quietly colonize in the mucosal folds of the foreskin and glans. If unprotected sexual contact occurs, it can easily be transmitted to a partner through subtle mucosal damage. A woman’s cervical mucosa is delicate and moist, which is exactly the environment that HPV likes to live in. If her own immunity fails to keep up, the virus will take root and multiply, and she will eventually be found positive during screening.

Of course, there are different clinical views. Some research data show that if a man’s immunity is strong enough and the HPV viral load in his body is extremely low, or even lower than the lower limit of clinical detection, the infectivity is almost negligible. This does not mean that as long as the man has carried HPV, he will definitely pass it on to his partner. After all, whether an infection will eventually occur, a woman's own immunity actually plays a more important role. Even if many girls are exposed to a small amount of viruses, their own immune cells can directly clear the viruses, and there will be no persistent infection at all.

To put it bluntly, don't use "the other person looks particularly healthy" as a reason not to take protection or regular screening. HPV, a stealth virus, cannot be detected by looking at the condition with the naked eye. It is best for both parties who have regular sexual partners to get the HPV vaccine as early as possible, and try to wear condoms throughout the sexual intercourse. The woman should undergo regular cervical cancer screening. If she does find out positive, don’t worry about each other first. Adjust your work and rest together and exercise more to improve your immunity. More than 90% of HPV infections can naturally turn negative within 1-2 years. It is really not that scary.