[Dex]

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wow, dex, great thread.

Anyway, once you're rid of the last one, do you still have the virus? That is, is it like herpes where you'll have it forever but maybe not have break outs?

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I've read that, unfortunately, you'll always have the virus in your system. Though I'm curious what the doctors have said to Dex on that subject.

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That's pretty much what they've told me.

Now, having said that:

(This is summarized from my understanding of the more trustworthy sources that I've learned from so far. If any of this is incorrect or badly worded, please let me know.)

This is a skin infection. If you are infected with HPV, you don't have the virus "in your system", but you do have it on your skin. It is different from herpes in this respect - herpes lives in your nerves; HPV lives on your skin.

There is no guarantee, however, that any treatment will remove all of the virus that exists on your skin. They can remove the visible warts, but there probably will be some areas of infected skin nearby that still have some of the virus on them.

For most people, the immune system will be able to "clear" the HPV infection to undetectable levels within a certain time frame. Several sources that I've seen specify this average time frame as 1-2 years or so.

Treatment (having warts removed) helps with this. It reduces the total viral load and also alerts the immune system to the presence of the virus. So, while the skin is healing from whatever treatment, the immune system "sees" the virus there.

Once you've been treated and all visible warts are completely gone, apparently all you can do is wait. You've removed all the infected skin that you know of; now your body's immune system has to deal with the rest of it (if there is any). The more time that passes without any symptoms returning, the higher the probability that you are now "clear" of the HPV infection. In addition, your body is now likely immune to that particular strain of HPV.

The problem is waiting and the uncertainty factor. You can never be 100% certain that the infection is completely gone, although I've seen sources that say that once a significant amount of symptom-free time has passed after treatment (some say 6 months, some say 1-2 years, etc.), you can be "reasonably" sure that you're clear.

So, once I'm rid of the last one, will I still have the virus? Probably. Will I have it for the rest of my life? Probably not.