The only 100 percent effective way to prevent HPV transmission is to abstain from any sexual contact, including oral, anal, and vaginal sex. You may decide to abstain from sex if you are not in a committed relationship, if you are in a relationship but do not feel ready to have sex, or for any other reason. The HPV vaccine is safe and effective. May protect against diseases (including cancers) caused by HPV when given in recommended age groups.
See “Who Should Get Vaccinated? below. There is no cure for the virus itself, but many HPV infections go away on their own. In fact, about 70 to 90 percent of cases of HPV infection are eliminated from the body by the immune system. Vaccines protect against the types of human papillomavirus (HPV) that most often cause precancers and cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, and anus, as well as the types of HPV that cause most cancers of the oropharynx.
Cancers of the cervix, vagina, anus, and oral cavity have been linked to human papillomavirus or HPV. Seventy-nine million Americans, mostly young adults in their late teens and early twenties, will become infected with HPV or human papillomavirus.
Human papillomavirus
(HPV) is a group of more than 150 viruses, of which about 40 are typically transmitted from person to person during intimate or sexual contact. More than half of sexually active people get a genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection at some point in their lives, but most never know it.Human papillomavirus is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease today.
