David,

I am definitely a male thank you. I am concerned about transmitting the virus should I have intimate contact with a woman, esp through oral sex, but I imagine also capable through kissing or so the info boards tell me. The fact that so many females would have been exposed already does not seem to offer them (or me) any sort of protection against infection, reinfection or acquisition of a new strain (mine). The possible approval of Gardasil or other vaccine would not seem to be of benefit either since any vaccine prevents infection through creation of antibodies and we have already been exposed, expressed, etc and presumably have more than our fair share of HPV antibodies. Per Brian, Dr. Gillison's research appears to confirm my concern that I am likely still quite actively infected and capable of passing the virus ("The study found that oral rinses successfully detected high-risk HPV infections in patients with HPV 16-positive head and neck cancers for up to five years after treatment for their cancer. Gillison says the findings indicate a high rate of persistent infection"). This alarms me greatly since I imagine that the virus could well re-manifest as it did before. The stats don't support this but common sense and logic point to such a conclusion.

Really guys, I want to thank you both for such excellent information and feedback. This site has been a great find for me. I'm going to push my oncologist for this "swish test" at follow ups to track my infections.