Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a family of over 100 different types of viruses. They are very common and spread very easily, and over 70% of sexually active adults will show evidence of a past HPV infection. Most HPV infections are asymptomatic - that is, people are infected and do not know it.

To answer your question, many HPV infections do go away on their own. However, some HPV infections persist and stay in the body. Some strains can cause warts and others abnormal PAP smears. The strains referred to as "high-risk" can cause changes to cells that eventually can lead to cervical cancer, anal cancer and rarely, oropharyngeal cancer.