HPV is usually passed on through skin-to-skin contact. For the types of HPV that affect the genitals, this includes: 
-vaginal sex 
-anal sex 
-oral sex 
-touching the genital area 
-sharing sex toys 

If you have ever had any kind of sexual contact, you may have HPV. You can get HPV from just one sexual experience. You do not need to have had penetrative sex to get HPV. People of any gender and sexual orientation can get HPV.  

HPV usually has no symptoms. Many people may have HPV without ever knowing it. This can be worrying but HPV usually goes away without causing any problems. 9 out of 10 times, the immune system will clear it within two years. 

HPV tests are done as part of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. Cervical screening is offered to women and people with a cervix between 25–64 years old.

The cells from your cervix are tested for high-risk HPV. If high-risk HPV is found, the same cells are looked at under a microscope to see if they have changes. 

It may be possible for this to happen. This is because different people can have different levels of natural immunity to HPV. 

Natural immunity is where your immune system remembers a virus from when you had it in the past. It means if you get that virus again, your body can clear it quickly before it causes any problems. 

The HPV vaccine protects against certain types of HPV. Immunity from the vaccine is stronger than natural immunity. 

There is no treatment for HPV itself. But your immune system will usually get rid of it without it causing any problems. In 9 in 10 people, this happens within two years. 

There are treatments for conditions caused by HPV, such as genital warts, cervical cell changes and cancer.

For more information on treatment for genital warts, visit the young person’s sexual health charity, Brook for more information.

Click here for more information on the treatment for cervical cell changes caused by high-risk HPV.

We don’t know exactly why some people don’t clear HPV. It might be to do with the type of high-risk HPV that someone has.

It might also be affected by your immune system. Some people’s bodies find it easier to clear HPV than others. Some lifestyle habits can also make it harder for your body to clear HPV. One example is smoking; this is because smoking makes your immune system weaker.

If you are on immunosuppressant medications or have an auto-immune disease, your body may find it harder to clear HPV. It may also find it harder to clear if you have HIV. If you have HIV, you will be invited for a cervical screening test every year.

Having HPV does not mean that your partner has been unfaithful. You can have HPV for a long time without knowing about it. This makes it difficult to know when you got HPV or who you got it from.  

Your immune system usually gets rid of HPV. But the virus can sometimes stay in your body without causing any problems or being detected with a test. This is called ‘dormant’ or ‘clinically insignificant’ HPV. 

Sometimes dormant HPV can become active again. We don’t know exactly why this happens yet, but it might be affected by changes in your immune system. Active HPV may cause cell changes and HPV-related cancers. HPV that becomes active again can be found with a cervical screening test. 

Because HPV can stay dormant in your body without being detected, it is possible that you got it years or even decades ago but never knew you had it. 

It is completely up to you. There is no official guidance that you should tell anyone if you have HPV. HPV is a very common virus, and most people won’t know they have it.

No, having high-risk HPV does not mean you will get cell changes or cancer. 

During our lives, 8 in 10 of us will get some type of HPV. Around 9 in 10 HPV infections clear within two years, without causing any problems. Most of us will never know we had it. 

For a small number of people, HPV will remain in their body. This is called a ‘persistent HPV infection’. It may lead to cell changes and cancer. Monitoring and treating any cell changes, if needed, reduces the risk of cancer.

Cervical screening and the HPV vaccine reduce your risk of cell changes and cervical cancer. 

No — genital warts are not a cause of cancer. Genital warts are caused by different types of HPV (low-risk HPV types) to cancer (high-risk HPV types).

If you have, or have had, cervical cancer, there is a higher risk of getting another cancer linked to high-risk HPV. There is not much evidence on how big this risk is. 

We understand that knowing this may be worrying. If you feel you need support, you can speak to our Ask Eve Nurses for free and confidential information and support.