HPV infection is more common in younger age groups, particularly in women in their late teens and twenties. Because HPV is spread mainly through sexual contact, risk increases with number of sexual partners. Women who become sexually active at a young age, who have multiple sexual partners, and whose sexual partners have other partners are at increased risk. Nonsexual transmission is also possible. The virus often disappears but may remain detectable for years after infection.
Most infections appear to go away on their own without causing any kind of abnormality.
However, infection with cancer-associated HPV types may increase the risk that mild abnormalities will progress to more severe abnormalities or cervical cancer. With regular follow-up care by trained clinicians, women with precancerous cervical abnormalities should not develop invasive cervical cancer. Unfortunately, there are occasions when Pap test results are not accurate. Although these errors do not occur very often, they can cause anxiety and can affect a woman's health. A false positive Pap test occurs when a patient is told she has abnormal cells when the cells are actually normal.