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Home / Answered Questions / I have genital warts and I just started getting my first treatment about a week ago. I have been with my current bf for 1.5 years now. He was a virgin; I’m his 1st gf. The last sex I had before we had our first sex was about one year before our relationship. My understanding is that genital warts virus would break out in between 3-6 months. I don’t believe my bf cheated on me, but is it possible for the virus to stay dormant for such a long time like 2 years then break out? Or I should really start thinking that maybe he cheated on me….thank you.

I have genital warts and I just started getting my first treatment about a week ago. I have been with my current bf for 1.5 years now. He was a virgin; I’m his 1st gf. The last sex I had before we had our first sex was about one year before our relationship. My understanding is that genital warts virus would break out in between 3-6 months. I don’t believe my bf cheated on me, but is it possible for the virus to stay dormant for such a long time like 2 years then break out? Or I should really start thinking that maybe he cheated on me….thank you.

Hi

HPV (human papillomavirus) is the virus that causes genital warts and it is hard to know when it was passed to you. We generally say that it can take 1 to 8 months or longer for genital warts to appear after HPV has been passed to someone.

It’s possible that the warts could have appeared earlier but were too small to see and only recently became big enough for you to notice.

You also said that your bf was a virgin; I don’t know his full sexual history but HPV can be passed with oral sex and sometimes people consider themselves a virgin if they have not had vaginal sex, but oral sex does not count.

Given that HPV is so common and most people don’t get symptoms it can be very difficult to know from whom or when the HPV was passed to you.

With what you have written I would not say that there is evidence that your bf cheated on you. Have you been able to discuss this with your bf?

Here are some links for some more information on HPV.

HPV and genital warts

Client Handout: Genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection and Genital Warts

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

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