Hey, why do I always get the STD questions? Not a very flattering implication there.
Sadly, there is no definitive test for hpv as yet, apart from the appearance of genital warts, so if he has it or not will always be uncertain. Most people do manage to naturally get rid of the virus after a few years, but some can carry it for decades.
Fortunately, if you are under 26 and female, you can be immunised against it. Get the double vaccine, both Cervarix and Gardasil, to protect you against both the genital warts and the risk of cervical cancer.
The full immunisation is three injections over a six month period, which is not a long time to wait to be safe from at least one of the common STDs.
You should do this regardless of staying with this particular guy or not as, according to the CDC "HPV is so common that at least 50% of sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives."
Why add to the statistics when there is absolutely no need to! Get yerself to the doctors. It is money well spent.
As to your guy - he has been honest and up front with you about the risk. Be honest back. If he is willing to wait another 6 months for you to be absolutely safe before you have sex, you are golden. If he isn't, and you decide you really want to stay with him anyway - he wraps it.
Every single time. No excuses.
Posting this extra one today instead of an answer tomorrow, because I feel this is a very important subject to address promptly.
Usual reminder of the Oscar liveblogging - Chic Geek has all the details, written in a highly entertaining style.
I would advise against getting the HPV vaccine. Not enough research has been done on it and future complications have not been addressed because they are unknown. Additionally, it is no guarantee since it only vaccinates 2 of the tens of different strains of HPV. So in my opinion, have him wrap it up EVERY time as opposed to potentially jeopardizing your health along with your fertility.
Oh Lord. Get the vaccine. Do it. I'd say you're jeopardizing your health if you don't.
Check out Scarleteen.com, it's not just for teens and it is a good baseline for all sexual health questions. I'm a sexual health peer educator and I use this resource all the time.
Here's their page on HPV
http://www.scarleteen.com/article/infection/the_sti_files_human_papillomavirus_hpv
I agree with getting the vaccine, but it does not make you immune to HPV, just the most common strains, which is still a plus of course! But there are 100s of strains and it will not protect you from all of them, but not all of them are very dangerous either. Either way, condoms, condoms, condoms, every time!
Shannonis right -- the vaccines don't cover all the strains of HPV. My friend, who is a nursing student, got both and she still ended up with HPV (there are around 30 strains and these vaccines don't cover them all). My advice would be to wrap it every time, regardless if you get the vaccines or not.
Condoms do not protect you from the virus (FACT). How would I know? Had to go to the gyno, who diagnosed me with low grade cell growth (which is a result from contracting HPV , and YES I used a rubber every time). Get the vaccine, practice safe sex, etc.
There is no way to test men for hpv (currently) . Also, it doesn't stay in your system forever( eventually it will cycle out, I still have to go for another check up to make sure its passed. And even then theres no telling if its still dormant. Thats why we have to go to the whoha doctor annually, dont let anyone tell you , you should only go once every three years!! Thats bullshit!). Thats why a bulk of the population has either had it, or will contract it at some point.
Yes!!! Get the vaccine!!! I believe Gardasil protects against the 2 strains of HPV that cause 90% of genital warts and 2 strains that cause a lot of cervical cancers, but unfortunately that leaves a third strain that causes the other 10% of genital warts and a whole bunch of other cancer-causing strains. Also, HPV is spread by genital skin-to-skin contact, like herpes, so a condom may not cover everything and you can still get it. However, obviously wrapping up is way safer than going bare, even once you've been vaccinated. As a side note, the HPV tests for women only check for the cancer-causing strains. To the best of my knowledge there is no test for the wart-causing strains for either gender. For more info check out Wikipedia and follow their link to the CDC page on HPV. The CDC is one of the most reliable sources out there.
Condoms are not 100% effective, but it should be mandatory.
Getting the vaccine is also a must, seeing as there really is no reason NOT to.
I'm in a similar situation to you though. I am also a virgin, and was seeing a guy who had an STD. We ended up breaking up before having sex due to other reasons, but talking about it definitely helped. He has two things to be understanding about (taking your virginity and not rushing that and also understanding if you don't want to have sex with a guy who isn't clean) and if he isn't understanding about either of those, then you have your answer, I feel.
Get the vaccine even though the shots are super painful!
Mystery Man - You get the STD questions because it's easier to ask these questions to someone who's face we don't know. Price you pay for anonymity.
As long as you are all not assuming I know the treatments and cures and relationship problems of STDs from personal experience!!
Nah, its cool, keep asking. Makes a nice change from the usual 6.
Someone once told me about 8 years ago not to get the Gardasil vaccine because there wasn't enough research on it and I listened to them. I was sexually assaulted about a year ago and the person did not use a condom, I now have genital warts. I haven't been able to bring myself to even get intimate with anyone since because I'm disgusted by it and have no idea how to tell them. I would hope that whoever I do decide to be with when I'm ready won't hold it against me that I have HPV. I don't plan on telling them how I got it because I feel like that would be a guilt trip or something. So 1) take it easy on the guy, if you really like him don't let it be the deal breaker it takes courage and the fact that he told you means he, trusts, likes and respects you 2) Get the vaccine before it's too late!