Some women, who have normal cervical pathology results and a positive test for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), are very anxious and seek medical advice everywhere. Hopefully, this article can answer your questions and help you to correctly recognize HPV infection. High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important causative factor for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. 20-30% of the general population is infected with HPV. Despite the high rate of HPV infection, the incidence of CIN and cervical cancer is still very low, and only “persistent” HPV infection is found. Only “persistent” “high-risk” HPV infections can lead to CIN and progress to cervical cancer. Most women, especially young women, have a transient HPV infection that is cleared by the body over a period of time (generally defined as about 6-12 months). There are many factors affecting the regression of HPV infection, such as: the type of HPV (infection with HPV subtypes 16 and 18 is more likely to form a persistent infection than other subtypes), HPV co-infection, age, sexual life, contraceptive methods, and the body’s immune status. Some studies show that the natural clearance rate of HPV infection is 55-70% for high-risk types and 56-81% for low-risk types. In this case, multiple types of HPV infection at the same time increases the time for HPV to clear naturally. Pregnancy and childbirth are specific physiologic states of women that also affect the natural clearance of cervical HPV infection. Natural clearance of HPV infection is about 50% during pregnancy and up to 70% after delivery. Persistent infection with high-risk HPV types (especially HPV16 and HPV18) for more than 2 years significantly increases the risk of cervical lesions. In general, the time to progress from HPV infection to precancerous lesions can be up to 5 years, much shorter than the time to progress from precancerous lesions to cancer (up to 20 years). Among other things, persistent HPV infection is a key condition and necessary for the process leading to CINII, CINIII and cervical cancer. Therefore, women who have high-risk HPV positive need to properly recognize this state of viral infection. HPV can be fought off by using condoms during sexual intercourse, avoiding unclean sex, and strengthening one’s own body; it can also be aided by some topical medications (e.g., interferon), which can be effective to a certain extent. In case of persistent high-risk HPV positivity, especially HPV16 and HPV18 positivity, even if the TCT screening is normal, colposcopy should be performed to exclude the occurrence of cervical lesions. A prophylactic quadrivalent vaccine (HPV6, 11, 16, 18) is available internationally to protect against these four viral infection types, although the vaccine does not work in people who are already infected. The prophylactic HPV vaccine was approved for marketing in the U.S. in 2006, and the HPV vaccine is currently in clinical trials in China. Among other things, the protective effect of the HPV vaccine is achieved by preventing persistent HPV infection. The vaccine is now available in more than 100 countries and is mainly used for adolescent girls and young girls (9-26 years old), and the vaccine provides more than 90% protection against HPV 16 and 18, with a possible duration of protection of up to 20 years.