Eighty percent of people will get an HPV infection in their lifetime. About 14 million Americans, including teens, become infected with HPV each year. While most HPV infections will go away on their own, infections that don’t go away can cause cancers of the:
- Cervix, vagina, and vulva in women
- Penis in men
- Anus and back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils (oropharynx), in both women and men.
HPV is estimated to cause nearly 35,000 cases of cancer in men and women every year in the U.S. HPV vaccination can prevent more than 32,000 of these cancers from ever developing by preventing the infections that cause those cancers.
All 11-12 year old boys and girls need two doses of the HPV vaccine to protect against cancers caused by HPV infections.
HPV types that cause most HPV cancers and genital warts have dropped 86 percent among teen girls since the vaccine has been in use. Among vaccinated women, the percentage of cervical precancers caused by the HPV types most often linked to cervical cancer dropped by 40 percent.