I found out during my last Pap smear that I have low grade cell changes due to a high risk strain of HPV, though I wasn’t told which strain. I am not currently in a relationship with anyone but have been wrestling with whether or not I should tell my former partners who might have been exposed during the time frame between this is past Pap smear and the normal one I had three years prior. They are all male, which has added to my inability to decide whether or not it’s right to tell them when they cannot get tested and may experience increased anxiety over something they can’t do anything about. I have asked for opinions from my loved ones but still don’t have a great grasp on what to do. Any advice or perspective would be greatly appreciated.
No you don’t have to let them know unless you really want to ,there’s nothing they can do about it and HPV is not a normal STD everyone has it at some point and the great majority clear it without problems is only a few unlucky ones like myself that don’t, HPV is everywhere.
I agree with Hop1. It’s incredibly common and for most people it clears their system with no impact.
There’s a good blog post on the Jo’s website about it which I found helpful - https://www.jostrust.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blog/blog/why-need-ditch-STI-label-hpv
Thank you both for your responses. Most of my loved ones have shared your views but I have one friend who has been emphatic about how immoral it is not to tell my past partners, which has caused me to struggle with it.
I have just had my smear and found out I had hpv I haven’t told my partner yet it has made my anxiety go through the roof we have been together 2.5 years and love each other very much… I spoke to a lovely lady today on the phone from Jo,s trust she really made me feel better and she explained you don’t need to tell anybody I still feel the need to tell him I just hope it doesn’t end our beautiful relationship I would be devastated… the lovely lady today explained to me about it being a virus like the common cold and it’s very easy to catch and that I haven’t done anything wrong but I am still feeling very anxious I pray he understands because my life will be shattered .
