can you have a false positve for HPV and other questions

I used to post a couple years ago.

I recently had my pap test. It can back normal but showed I have HPV. Due to my Christian Faith, I have never been sexualy active. I questioned the nurse several times. Can there be a false positive? Is there any way the lab read the pap smear wrong? Could they mixed up my slide with someone else's? Of course she said highly unlikely. I also told her that I never been sexually active. i have a history of breast cancer, went through chemo, radiation and was on tamoxifen for 3 years and been on femara for 1 year.
Can there be a false positive?

I need to call and make an appointment, i had some spotting this past week but also have been passing some thick white discharge. I will notice this different time after going to the bathroom.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Elizabeth

(((Elizabeth)))

I'm sorry your HPV test came back positive. The fabulous news is that your PAP came back normal!

HPV is an incredibly common virus. Approximately 80% of sexually-active women have been exposed to or infected with HPV. I understand that you've not been sexually active. It is possible to transmit the virus even without intercourse if there is any genital contact (including hand to genital). But even in the absence of that kind of contact, there are reported cases of HPV/cervical dysplasia/cervical cancer in virgins. They are not many in number, but they do exist. It is believed to be possible that viral infection could occur at the time of birth with an infected mother.

And, of course, there is a very low number of false-positive HPV tests. It is much lower than the false positives of the PAP. I could not find an exact number--probably because it's so low, but I'm sure it's well below 1%. So it would be highly unlikely that it's a false positive, but I supose it is possible.

The important thing for you is that you know you've had this positive HPV test, and that just means you need to have regular annual exams to make sure that your PAP remains normal, or if your PAP becomes abnormal, that it's caught in a very timely manner.

I'm certain this must be difficult for you to come to terms with. You've been living a lifestyle that should have made HPV a non-issue. I cannot explain it for you with any certainty. Unusual things do happen in life, though, and we can't explain all of them.

I wish you a future filled with negative PAP's and hopefully negative HPV tests. Keep in mind that the vast majority of women do clear an HPV infection from their bodies within 2 years. The virus is still there, but the body keeps it in a dormant state.

Sending you positive thoughts and 'ers.

Hello HopeinGod,

I'm not too familiar with HPV, except for what I have read here and there. As Jeanine explained, you don't have to be sexually active to have HPV. I have read that the virus can become active for a number of reasons.

I also read that many women feel ashamed when they are diagnosed with HPV as many people are misinformed and believe that it is only transmitted sexually and when you have many partners -which is not necessarily true.

The important thing is that you now know that you carry the virus and can be followed up.

Hi Elizabeth - Congrats on being a breast cancer survivor!!!

Jeanine gave you excellent information about HPV, and I'm glad Maxime brought up the subject of shame. There is no shame in having HPV. It's a virus and a common one at that. If you're concerned about what others might say, just tell them that you are one of the rare ones who did not contract it from intercourse.

Just take care of yourself! I'm glad you're making an appt to have the spotting and discharge checked out! You take care - s!!!

I posted on the board last May with the same question. My pap last Feb came back as hpv positive. I was really upset that hpv was found present as I had a hyst in 2003 for hpv in cervix and so was worried that it was now present in vaginal vault. I went for colposcopy in May which along with a biopsy came back normal. I had a pap and hpv testing three months ago and my second follow up colposcopy last week. The hpv testing last pap came back as negative and pap normal as did last week's colposcopy. The doctor who did my colposcopy both times said that he thinks it was a false positive with me last year and that it does happen. I asked how it can happen and he says he doesn't know but that possibly it is slide contamination. There is no doubt that I have hpv in my body (and possible in my vaginal mucosa) but the hpv test that came back positive from last year in my pap smear seems to have been a false positive and I am hoping the future smears and colposcopy in a year's time bears this out too. Hope this helps to know that in my doctor's opinion false positives with the hpv test do occur. Debby

from what i've read, false positives on hpv tests are very rare; if they detect hpv, then it's there. in contrast, false positives in pap smears are much more likely than false positives in hpv tests. that said, there are humans involved in the testing process, and there can, of course, be mix ups in a lab, getting someone else's sample, etc.. but the actual detection of hpv is considered an extremely accurate test. this is why there's the current thought that hpv testing, particularly in women over 30, is just as important, if not more so, than the pap.

and, it's great if one tests negative for hpv after testing positive - it indicates that one's body has fought off the infection. yeah for the immune system! that said, once one has hpv, it always remains, and one needs to be vigilant with follow up paps, to be sure that dysplasia doesn't develop. having hpv is very common - most women (80%+) have it. there's no shame nor stigma for this!!! and the virus remains in one's body, and medical science does not yet know what makes it activated or dormant.

elizabeth, it's great to hear that though hpv came back positive, the pap was normal. i hope you have continued normal paps! keep up that immune system!!!

thanks so much for your replies. My greater concern was with the history of breast cancer although I felt the lump mammogram, ultra sound and diagnostic mammogram did not detect 2 cm lump.

I was concern that maybe the pap test was false negative and hpv was a false postive. I go again in few months for a follow up.