You Go for Your Regular Pap Test and Are Informed

Multiple Choice

You go for your regular Pap test and are informed by your OBGYN that you are positive for HPV16. You are surprised because you have not noticed any signs or symptoms of infection. Your doctor explains that sexually transmitted HPV strains are among the most common of the STI agents, and that while some HPV strains cause warty growths of the external and internal genitalia, other strains cause non-warty lesions of mucosal surfaces such as the uterine cervix. These strains are of concern because they are a major factor in the development of cervical cancer. You ask your doctor a number of questions regarding HPV and HPV infection.
-If I had developed external genital warts, how would I be cured of the HPV infection?

A) Freezing of warts with liquid nitrogen.
B) Surgical excision of the warts.
C) Acid treatment of the warts using trichloroacetic acid.
D) Removal of the warts using creams that induce cytokine production.
E) None of these. Warts can be removed but HPV may remain and cause recurrences.