Human Papillomavirus HPV

HPV Information

  • More than 42 million Americans are infected with types of HPV that cause disease.
  • About 13 million Americans, including teens, become infected each year.

HPV is spread through intimate skin-to-skin contact. You can get HPV by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has the virus, even if they don’t have signs or symptoms.

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. More than 40 HPV types can infect the genital areas of men and women, including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside the vagina), and anus, and the linings of the vagina, cervix, and rectum. These types can also infect the lining of the mouth and throat.

High-Risk and Low-Risk HPV Infection Types

HPV types are often referred to as “non-oncogenic” (wart-causing) or “oncogenic” (cancer-causing), based on whether they put a person at risk for cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer found that 13 HPV types can cause cervical cancer… The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types that can cause cancer.

Most people who become infected with HPV do not know they have it. Usually, the body’s immune system gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years. This is true of both oncogenic and non-oncogenic HPV types. By age 50, at least 4 out of every 5 women will have been infected with HPV at one point in their lives. HPV is also very common in men, and often has no symptoms.

HPV Vaccination Recommendations HPV Vaccination Recommendations | CDC

Two doses of HPV vaccine are recommended for most persons starting the series before their 15th birthday.

  • The second dose of HPV vaccine should be given 6 to 12 months after the first dose.
  • Adolescents who receive two doses less than 5 months apart will require a third dose of HPV vaccine.

 

Three doses of HPV vaccine are recommended for teens and young adults who start the series at ages 15 through 26 years, and for immunocompromised persons.

  • The recommended three-dose schedule is 0, 1–2 and 6 months.
  • Three doses are recommended for immunocompromised persons (including those with HIV infection) aged 9 through 26 years.