A service provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control
In the years since SmartSexResource launched, we have developed a library of questions asked by you, and answered by our expert sexual health nurses.
Our answered questions library cover a broad range of sexual health topics and common questions we hear at our clinics.
Genital warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). It is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
There are over 100 types of HPV. About 40 of them can affect the anus/rectum, genitals and less commonly, the mouth and throat. HPV is sexually transmitted through skin-to-skin contact. This includes sexual contact such as, genitals rubbing together, penetrative sex (vaginal/internal genital or anal/rectal intercourse), oral sex, sharing sex toys, and hands on genitals. HPV may still be present even if there are no visible warts or when the warts are gone. Wearing condoms can help to reduce, but not eliminate the chances of passing HPV from one partner to another.
For the majority of people, the virus will clear the body on its own without causing symptoms/warts or problems.
For those who do get symptoms (genital warts), most of these will eventually go away with or without having them treated, often within 18-24 months. Once your genital warts are gone, this does not mean the HPV infection is gone or cured. Genital warts can come back and you can get HPV again from a partner who has it.
There are now vaccines that protect against the more common HPV types. The vaccine will not help you get rid of HPV if you already have it, but it can prevent future infections. To learn more about the HPV and other vaccines, click here.
Most physicians within the lower mainland are well versed with the health needs of people who identify as GLBT2S. Below I have provided links to clinics that we would recommend patients who seek queer competent healthcare providers
https://denmanmedicalcentre.com/
https://www.mainlandclinic.ca/
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The rapid HIV tests are only 95% accurate at most. False positives are quite common with the rapid test which does not indicate that you have HIV. The rapid tests are never used to diagnose someone here in British Columbia due to the large margin of error. I recommend that you complete a more accurate HIV testing that includes HIV antibodies and HIV RNA. I have provided you with a link that can connect you to clinic where you can complete these tests. https://smartsexresource.com/get-tested/clinic-finder
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Your immune system is responsible for clearing out the HPV virus within our bodies, but when and how it is cleared depends on the strain and your immune system. Some people may not have completeresolution of an HPV type. It could be that the type is dormant or “sleeping” in their body, but reawakens at some point. This sometimes happens when the body is under more stress that affects the immune system, such as periods of extreme stress or certain medications like chemotherapy.
It’s also possible that a person may resolve the type completely, but then get it again at a future date. It’s also very possible that someone could be infected with a different
HPV type if they are exposed to it. Having one type of HPV does not mean you won’t get other types of HPV if exposed to them. Regardless of the reason, some people can
have recurrent HPV.
Although our immune system does its best to protect us from HPV exposures, there is still a possibility of transmission if HPV is present. HPV passed through skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity. This includes any kind of sexual contact with the anal and genital regions, including genitals rubbing together, penetrative sex (vaginal or anal intercourse), oral sex, sharing sex toys, and hands on genitals. HPV may still be present even if there are no visible warts or when the warts are gone. Since HPV is so common that most people acquire it sooner or later, it is not realistic to avoid it. There is no need to stop having sex even if warts or other signs of HPV are present, or are being treated.
Condoms and other barrier methods can reduce the possibility of HPV transmission, although they do not provide full protection as HPV can be passed through other skin-to-skin contact. Condoms also protect against other STIs, including gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and HIV. Using condoms is a good way to reduce the risk of getting STIs. Vaccination is the most effective way to protect ourself against HPV. A decade of using the HPV vaccine in British Columbia has shown that it is both safe and effective. For more information about the HPV vaccine visitwww.immunizebc.ca/hpv
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Hi
Depo Provera is a form of injectable birth control where people are seen every 10 to 13 weeks for a repeat injection.
You have stated that your Depo expires on July 3rd, I am unsure how many weeks this is from your last injection as many clinics will book your appointment at 10 weeks so that you have a few weeks of extra time in case anything comes up. You have 13 weeks of protection from when you get your injection.
If you’re having sex and it has been more than 13 weeks I would recommend using a backup method of birth control as it would be possible to get pregnant.
For more information on Depo have a look at Options for Sexual Health information page.
https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/facts/birth-control/methods/the-birth-control-shot/
If you have had penis-vaginal sex with no birth control (has been after 13 weeks), it’s possible to get Emergency Contraception to reduce the chance of getting pregnant. Have a look at Options for Sexual Health information page for additional information.
https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/facts/birth-control/emergency-contraception/
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any further questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi
Your sexual partner would need to have an STI for them to be able to pass one to you.
What could happen is they have a negative test but end up having an STI (we call this a false negative test). It’s also possible they could have an STI that was not tested for.
The two situations that can come up in regard to testing accuracy are the window period and the quality of the sample. I can give you some example in regard to this. Window period is the time it takes for an STI to show up on a test after it has passed to someone. Say you have a partner who had a previous sex partner and gets a test a couple of days after having sex, in this case their test would be done too soon and most likely would not pick up an STI if one had been passed to them.
Quality of the sample is also another factor, say a test for chlamydia was done but the person had just urinated before doing the test or a swab sample was not taken well enough or from the correct place e.g. a test was taken from the genitals but they actually had the STI in their throat. These examples show how someone can have an STI but a test may have showed a negative result.
The other example is if a test for a certain STI was not done or it’s not possible to do one. For example someone comes into our clinic with no symptoms and gets a routine STI screen. At our clinics a routine screen for someone without symptoms would include gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, HIV and maybe hepatitis (depends on risk and vaccine history). This means that a person could have a common STI like herpes simplex virus (HSV) or human papillomavirus (HPV) and not know it. Currently we have no test available for HPV testing in our clinics. There are HSV blood tests available that can be helpful in certain situations but are not good screening tests so we do not use them for routine STI testing.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any further questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi
Let me know if I got this wrong but is sounds like the condom slipped off while you were having vaginal sex.
The concern would be if you came in contact with any vaginal fluids when this happed, I could see that depending were the condom was when it slipped off that your penis may or may not have come in contact with vaginal fluids.
It sounds like you have been really safe with using condoms for vaginal/oral sex and going for STI testing on a regular basis. As it is possible that your penis may have come in contact with vaginal fluid I would recommend going in for a STI test, as this would be like having unprotected vaginal sex in terms of risk. In terms of the chance of something passing this is hard to know as it really depends if the person has an STI in the first place, even if they have an STI it is never 100% that it will pass the one time you have sex.
STI like chlamydia and gonorrhea usually show up in a urine test by 2 weeks so it best to wait at least 2 weeks before getting tested unless you develop symptoms e.g. discharge from penis, hurts when you pee, sores on the penis etc.… Blood tests that check for STI like HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B usually show up by 6 weeks on a test but can take up to 3 months to get a final result.
Given this I would recommend waiting 2 weeks before getting a STI check and then go back at 6 weeks to repeat the blood test. I would also consider getting the hepatitis B vaccine if you have not had it already. We know it can be a stressful for some people when they have to wait to do a test and then wait for the results. If this is happening for you, let us know if you need any help or support during this time.
In terms of using condoms in the future having a condom that fits better (feels comfortable and you can roll it down all the way) can decrease the chance of it slipping off and we also find that some people like using a female condom if they are having a problem with a male condom fitting.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
HPV is a skin-to-skin contact STI which means that it is possible to transmit the virus to your partner during sex. It is important to note that there are more than 150 different types of strains of HPV, and only a few will cause genital warts. This means that you don’t necesarily need to have a wart to have HPV. Rest assured that HPV is quite common and our immune systems typically clear this virus out in most individuals on average 1-2 years (This may vary on your immune system and HPV strain). If you want to minimize your risk factors of transmitting HPV I recommend using a condom to and avoiding skin to skin contact when a wart is visible.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns
Health Nurse
Hi, thanks for your question. Asymptomatic shedding can occur in both men and women. If you both have the HSV2 virus, then you dont pass it back and forth between each other so your shedding will not trigger an outbreak for your partner. Things that can possibly trigger an outbreak for her would be a lot of friction during sex causing the genital skin to be stressed making an outbreak more likely. Anything that stresses her immune system can also bring on an outbreak. Outbreaks can be triggered by a serious illness, by stressors like someone she loves being sick or losing a job and by being run down with not eating well, not getting enough sleep etc. In general people with genital HSV 2 do tend to have more outbreaks. If you partner is getting more than 6 outbreaks a year, she may like to try suppressive therapy. Her doctor can prescribe a low dose antiviral that is taken daily and will reduce the amount of outbreaks. There is an updated handbook in the herpes resouce section of this website that you and your partner may find useful: https://smartsexresource.com/topics/herpes-simplex-virus-genital-herpes
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse
Hi, thanks for your question. You are right. Passing sex fluids from one person to another through fingering and/or touching genitals is a way to transmit STI’s like chlamydia and gonorrhea. The low STI risk nature of mutual masturbation is based on only touching one’s own genitals.
Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse