There is nothing that you can do about this. The good news is this. Just because you test positive today for HPV 16 (I assume you have had the virus subtyped to get this information) it does not mean that you will get cervical cancer or any other cancer associated with one of the very few oncogenic versions of HPV. People's immune systems for the most part clear this all the time. Only a few people of all those infected with it ever develop a cancer. My wife was positive for it 5 years ago and in no test since then has she been.

Now as to the blame game. Who knows who gave what to whom? Noone unless this is the only sexual contact you have had in your entire lifetime of any type. Since you have been married before this clearly does not apply to you. You may have been a carrier of this virus for long periods of time and never known it since testing for it during cervical exams is a relatively new idea. These test were not available ten years ago.

I wouldn't panic about any of this. I would just get you regular annual pap and HPV test, and of course an annual oral cancer screening as well.

Unless you are a pre-sexual individual that can get the vaccine (which you are not) you have no practical means to protect yourself from it. There is no mechanism for testing your husband to see if he is currently a carrier or if his immune system has eliminated it. Remember there are more than 120 versions of HPV, the vast majority of which do nothing to you.

Please go to the main OCF home page and click on the HPV link and read the age about the virus.

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.