Like everyone else, I am unsure how risky continuing with intimate contact is but have decided that it can't be that risky as I don't have oral cancer and neither does anyone else I know who has a partner who has been ill with OC.

So I googled a few figures and did a few calculations and came up with some thoughts on the whole risk of "catching cancer" thing.

I have also realised that I have a better chance of dying from eating something that comes out of my refrigerator than anything I might catch from Alex.

US population figures:
2010 census states that the US has a population of over 300 million people; 200 million adults and 100 million over the age of 50. If, as suggested by the research, 50% of people have been infected with HPV by the time they reach age 50, then 50 million people have been infected with HPV in the US.

Oral Cancer:
The SEER database run by the National Cancer Institute predicted a total of 39,400 cases of oral cancer in the US in 2011. The same database suggested that 20% of oral cancer was oropharyngeal cancer which is the most common site for HPV+ve tumours. I do not know what proportion of oropharyngeal cancers is positive for HPV but let�s say it is 70% (this number is stuck in my head for some reason). That means there are 5,516 people who have oral cancer caused by HPV.

Put another way: Of the 50 million people who would have contracted HPV at some time in their adult lives, 49,994,484 of them didn�t get HPV associated oral cancer!!

We need to remember that there are TWO parts to this story
1. most people who are infected with HPV fight it off over a couple of years and suffer no long term or permanent health consequences.
2. There is something else going on with people who progress to cancer that is not common to everyone.

I wonder if that thing at the back of the fridge under the plastic wrap that looks like it might be a chicken schnitzel would be all right if I make sure I really heat it through �