Can HPV Be Passed Through Breastmilk?

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by direct contact with an infected person. Different types of HPV can cause genital warts or cervical cancer, or infect the mouth and throat. According to a 2008 study, it is possible for HPV to be passed through breast milk.

2008 Study

For a 2008 study reported in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, researchers in Finland took 223 breast-milk samples from women who had given birth three days earlier. They found that 10 of the samples (4.5%) tested positive for high-risk HPV DNA.

HPV-16

Nine of those 10 samples tested positive for HPV-16, which has been linked to cervical cancer.

Correlations

The researchers also tested scrapings from the mothers' cervixes and mouths as well as from the mouths of 87 of the fathers. Researchers found no correlation between mothers' cervical or oral HPV results and their breast milk, but they did find that breast milk tested positive for HPV-16 more often when the baby's father tested positive for oral HPV.

Possible Explanations

The researchers suggested that it's possible the breast milk became infected from the father's mouth to the mother's nipple, or from the mother's hands.

Conclusion

As reported by Reuters, the researchers concluded that it is possible for an infant to become infected with HPV when viral particles are present in a mother's breast milk.