Hi there,

Unfortunately, yes. The HPV virus stays in the body for about a year, and during that time the virus can be passed to your sexual partners – even if you don’t have any visible warts. Condoms can cut down on HPV transmission but are not 100% effective for HPV prevention, because the skin that touches around the base of the condom can also pass the virus. We usually advise the sexual partners of people with genital warts to just keep an eye out for any warts in their own bodies – some partners will ge them, and some never will. The good news is that genital warts are not dangerous, just annoying. We can treat visible warts cosmetically to make the visible warts go away, and after several months to a year, the virus usually goes away on its own.

Hope that helps,

Health Nurse