Hi,

There have been discussions on here before about risks associated with having children and transmitting HPV, I thought I might renew this and get peoples thoughts and input. Any experiences? Any expert opinions? Everyone seems to say these days that you can suppress HPV and it eventually goes away... I treated my first and only 'wart' and have been symptom free ever since (12 months), not even sure it was what they said but its hard to argue with...

I still worry about the risk of vertical transmission, and it seems there are conflicting stories in regard to information on the net.

Hi Andy,

Vertical transmission is not a great concern. A recent study (E. Smith et al.), different from some others that have looked at vertical transmission due to it's large number of subjects, found low rates of HPV among newborns even though a fair number of mothers were HPV-positive. Keep in mind that just because HPV DNA is detected, it doesn't mean the child will develop an established infection that will cause an HPV-related disease. In most of these studies, the number of newborns with HPV will decrease over time, possibly due to antibodies acquired from the mother dealing with the infection.

For more go to http://www.hindawi.com/journals/idog/2010/326369.html. The study I reference is Evidence for Vertical Transmission of HPV from Mothers to Infants published last year in Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Best,
Fredo

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ASHA Moderator

Thanks for the link Fredo, can't say its particularly encouraging though..

Even a small chance is not a good chance how unfair for a newborn to suffer this.

What about theories on clearance though, many topics here talk about 2004 CDC research, and general beliefs that the immune system clear this within a certain period of time, though there is talk of recurrence.

If someone has been clear for a year or two will this decrease the chance of vertical transmission?

I hate this bloody virus.

Hey Andy,

I don't think anyone has much evidence here, but it is well established that 90% of HPV infections become undetectable within 24 months. I believe most experts would be of the opinion that at this point, transmission in general has dramatically diminished.

Best,
Fredo

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ASHA Moderator