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Does Genital HPV Gets Transmitted Through Casual Contact?

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Posted on Tue, 24 Mar 2015
Question: Hello doctor, how are you? Thanks for your time. So... please dont think im strange for these possibly wierd questions. Please be patient with me, because I dont have really anyone else to talk to, and im honestly scared. Im a 23 year old male, and i am XXXXXXX but no one really knows, i keep that to myself. but ive never have a sexual encounter in my life until about a month ago. 02/03/15 to be exact. The guy i was with is a 26 year old coworker, and he is an openly XXXXXXX guy but im not. Either way, for questions purposes we'll call this guy XXXXXXX Now i know XXXXXXX was STD free cause he showed me proof of a negative STD panel from a week before the encounter and also proof from a few months prior to that as well. We ended up doing a few things. Mutual masturbation, oral, and at one point he had used a few fingers in my anal cavity (again im sorry for the details, i just want to be honest). We had not done any anal intercourse. I also got tested a month later after the encounter, and came back negative for an STD panel. I am extremely worried about HPV however. He told me that about a year ago he was in a long term relationship, and that only towards the end of that relationship dis his partner tell him he had HIV. Being that XXXXXXX is negative and so am i, i am not worried, but instead I am worried about HPV. I read from the CDC website that roughly 95% of XXXXXXX men that are HIV positive are also HPV positive. I am worried that i may have gotten HPV from XXXXXXX who in turn got it from his partner. Now, almost a month and a half later, i do not see any genital warts so far, but im worried about the high risk strain that doesnt carry symptoms. I had asked him if he has ever had genital warts and he told me never, so im pretty sure if I had it, that it would be the high risk kind. I dont want to hurt anyone, and i dont know how i could cope with having HPV. I dont want to risk getting anyone around me infected. My family, my friends, etc... The CDC states that HPV is only sexually transmitted, and that you cannot get it from using toilets, or sharing clothes etc... Common warts however are still a strain from the HPV family, and those can be spread via the most casual forms of contact, which leads me to worry if high risk HPV can be transmitted the same way, despite what the CDC states. Ok so now that you know my worries, my question is this. Sometimes throughout the week i would hang out with one of my buddies that im really attracted to, and every now and then we would play wrestle or what not, nothing sexual of course, but i would  find myself getting slightly aroused. And sometimes even throught the week i would see someone, and would think of them or look at them for long periods of time, and i would find my self getting aroused as well. Many times in these cases i would leak some presemen in my underwear. Is this is any way dangerous? I keep my phone, keys, wallet, etc... in my front pockets, and i am worried that if dried presemen comes in contact with my pant pockets, that it can infect the surface of items in my pockets that someone may  end up touching, or that if i would lay down my phone or car keys, or wallet on a table or countertop, that it would then infect that surface. Or what about if i keep my hands in my pockets for a little while, and then shake someones hand? Should I be worried about this? Also is it ok for me to use the public restroom if I may have some amounts of dried presemen on my inner thigh or penis? Can that dried presemen infect the toilet seat for someone else? What if i spend the night somewhere, and god forbid i have a wetdream and i dont have time to shower or cannot. In this case, should i refrain from keeping things in my pockets, or using a public restroom, untill i would be able to shower and change clothes? I am also worried about eating dinner with my family. They say that you cannot transmit HPV by sharing drinks or utensils from saliva, but what if i have a cut inside my mouth, and so does someone else? Can HPV be transmitted through blood? Doctor, im going absolutely crazy with this. Again i dont even know i have HPV, but i can stop worrying. Please, doctor if you can provide some answers to each of these scenarious, and let me know if I should be worrying this much. Im a young guy, so my hormones are kind of hard to control. I just want to feel like myself again, and i feel like im a danger to others. Thanks much for your time.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (38 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Genital HPV could not be transmitted through casual contact.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to HCM.
Thanks for posting your query

There is nothing wrong in telling a doctor frankly about your problem. Then only you can get a solution.
First of all, your partner showed a result of STD free a week prior to the encounter.
If he was in widow period or incubation period for any STD/HIV then also the result would show negative in presence of some infection. More over if he had any contact during that week also would not have been reflected. But fortunately you didn't have any anal penetrative sex which has more risk for any STD/HIV. Mutual masturbation is harmless. Oral sex and fingering had low risk.

When there is no HPV lesions externally you need not bother about the things.
Prosemen helps in many way for our reproductive function, appearance of prosemen during excitement is quite normal and not injurious to health. Just a hand wash is enough to clean yourself from Prosemen. By touching, handling utensils with soiled hands with dry prosemen is no way transmit STD/HIV/HPV as these organisms can not live outside the body for not more than few seconds as drying, oxygen, temperature are inimical. Of course a common skin wart can be transmitted through casual contact, but when there is no obvious lesions you need not worry about the same.
So nothing to worry about Genital HPV infection and there is no likelihood of the transmission of the same to your family members or friends from you.
Dr S.Murugan
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (19 minutes later)
ok, i understand. thanks for your kind response. Now dealing with HPV, however everywhere i have read online and as well as CDC sources indicate that unlike HIV, HPV can live on surfaces for quite some time, and that also unlike HIV, it is resistant to drying (dessication). Given that information, can prosemen pose a risk for transmission?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (18 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Strains causing Ano-genital warts not transmitted through casual contacts.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome back.
The strains that causing anal and genital warts are still believed to be not viable outside the body for longer time to cause a casual infection or getting transmitted through inanimate objects.
Transmission of HPV through Prosemen is unheard and in my experience of 30 years of STD practice I yet to find a single case got transmitted through prosemen contamination.
Nothing to worry about your family members.
, Dr S.Murugan
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (10 minutes later)
Ok, thank you, and one more question to follow up on that, i apologize for asking too much. What about the high risk HPV strains? the ones that do not cause warts, but the ones that cause cancer in women, and also in some men. these are the strains i am worried about. Can the high risk strains be transmitted through prosemen contamination? does the high risk strain live outside the body longer that the wart causing low risk strain? thank you
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (32 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Cancer causing HPV also not transmitted by casual contact and prosemen

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome back

High risk strains of HPV those are responsible for the occurrence of cervical cancers are also not heard through casual contacts so far in any literature. It is common among sexually active women.
Similarly transmission of these serotypes of HPV, causing malignant changes in human genitals, through Prosemen is unlikely and unheard. Nothing to worry.
Dr S.Murugan
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (35 minutes later)
Ok that makes sense. As far as both low risk anf high risk strains go, can transmission occur through blood. for example what if i accidentally cut myself and someone comes in contact with my blood? thank you
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan (11 hours later)
Brief Answer:
HPV transmission can not be through contact of blood.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome back.

HPV is not present in body fluids or in circulation (blood). It enters into the skin and mucus membrane only and multiplies there only and not in blood. So injury at the site of lesion may be likely to cause the infection and not from bleeding from any other part of the body. Accidental injury and blood from that part is unlikely to be infectious unless the site of injury has lesion.

Dr S.Murugan
Note: Consult a Sexual Diseases Specialist online for further follow up- Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Sankaranantham Murugan

HIV AIDS Specialist

Practicing since :1974

Answered : 3110 Questions

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Does Genital HPV Gets Transmitted Through Casual Contact?

Brief Answer: Genital HPV could not be transmitted through casual contact. Detailed Answer: Hi, Welcome to HCM. Thanks for posting your query There is nothing wrong in telling a doctor frankly about your problem. Then only you can get a solution. First of all, your partner showed a result of STD free a week prior to the encounter. If he was in widow period or incubation period for any STD/HIV then also the result would show negative in presence of some infection. More over if he had any contact during that week also would not have been reflected. But fortunately you didn't have any anal penetrative sex which has more risk for any STD/HIV. Mutual masturbation is harmless. Oral sex and fingering had low risk. When there is no HPV lesions externally you need not bother about the things. Prosemen helps in many way for our reproductive function, appearance of prosemen during excitement is quite normal and not injurious to health. Just a hand wash is enough to clean yourself from Prosemen. By touching, handling utensils with soiled hands with dry prosemen is no way transmit STD/HIV/HPV as these organisms can not live outside the body for not more than few seconds as drying, oxygen, temperature are inimical. Of course a common skin wart can be transmitted through casual contact, but when there is no obvious lesions you need not worry about the same. So nothing to worry about Genital HPV infection and there is no likelihood of the transmission of the same to your family members or friends from you. Dr S.Murugan