SchrodingersCat
Active member
I once had an irregular pap smear, which means I may or may not have had HPV at some point in the past 5 years, and that I may or may not still be infected.
If you're a sexually active adult, there's an 80% chance you have had HPV at some point. At any given time, 20% of people are actively infected.
So when I'm having "the talk" with people, I don't say "I have HPV" and I don't say nothing. I say that I once had an irregular pap smear, which means that I may or may not have once had HPV, and that 80% of adults can say the same thing. Usually I find that sexually educated persons already know this and aren't worried about it.
In Canada, HPV is not part of the standard STI testing rounds, and most clinics will refuse to give it on the basis of cost. Or so I've been told by my provincial health care system when I tried to get tested for it after my irregular pap.
If you're a sexually active adult, there's an 80% chance you have had HPV at some point. At any given time, 20% of people are actively infected.
So when I'm having "the talk" with people, I don't say "I have HPV" and I don't say nothing. I say that I once had an irregular pap smear, which means that I may or may not have once had HPV, and that 80% of adults can say the same thing. Usually I find that sexually educated persons already know this and aren't worried about it.
In Canada, HPV is not part of the standard STI testing rounds, and most clinics will refuse to give it on the basis of cost. Or so I've been told by my provincial health care system when I tried to get tested for it after my irregular pap.