Fredo,

I recently read the following quotes on the CDC website, concerning HPV:

"In 90% of cases, the body’s immune system clears HPV naturally within two years. But sometimes, certain types of HPV can cause genital warts in males and females."

"In most cases, the body fights off HPV naturally and the infected cells then go back to normal. But in cases when the body does not fight off HPV, HPV can cause visible changes in the form of genital warts or cancer."

As far as I'm concerned, this makes it sound like if you develop genital warts, your immune system WILL NOT clear the HPV within two years. I thought that even if you developed warts, your HPV strain could STILL be cleared naturally over time and that in fact, 90% of HPV cases DO clear, whether you have warts or not. Can you help clear this up? (No pun intended)

Thanks
Jreyn

HPV infections most often do clear eventually, even when warts or cervical cell changes were detected at one point. Clearance can be impacted by a number of things: HPV type, age, immune system status, lifestyle factors (such as smoking), etc. Sometimes treatment itself can aid in clearing the virus. Just how long it takes to clear can vary greatly and, to be sure, longer-term persistence does sometimes happen (although it's not what's normal).

Best,
Fredo

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