HPV VACCINATION IS CANCER PREVENTION
Around 27,000 HPV-related cancers occur in the U.S. each year. There is a vaccine that can prevent these cancers.
HPV
HPV is so common that almost everyone will acquire it at some point in their lives. Most of the time, the virus clears up on its own but if it doesn’t, HPV can cause genital warts or certain kinds of cancer.
HPV CAN CAUSE THE FOLLOWING CANCERS:
- Cervical cancer
- A type of head and neck cancer that can infect the back of the throat
- Anal cancer
- Vaginal and vulvar cancer
- Penile cancer
People can pass HPV to one another through intimate contact, vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Condoms can help prevent the spread of HPV but since HPV can infect areas of the body that are not covered by a condom, HPV can still be transmitted.
Even if a person who is infected with HPV shows no symptoms, they can still pass the virus on to their partner(s). It is possible to have more than one strain of HPV and it is also possible to be re-infected with HPV more than once over a lifetime. For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.