The best way to prevent genital warts is to avoid having sex or having sex only with an uninfected person. Condom use may also help prevent infection. However, condoms can not always cover the entire area of the affected skin. Factors that increase the risk of infection include:
- have another DTE (because the risk factors are the same)
- multiple sex partners
- the habit of smoking
- certain vitamin deficiencies
- medicines or medical conditions that suppress the immune system such as AIDS
If you had genital warts, should be screened for cervical cancer at least once a year. Cervical cancer can be prevented with Pap tests and can be cured in most cases when detected in early stages.
In June 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration) approved an HPV vaccine for use in women. The currently available vaccine (several pharmaceutical companies are developing a version) targets 6 and 11 strains of HPV that cause 90% of genital warts, and strains 16 and 18, which cause cervical cancer cancer. This shot of three applications in six months protect against only those four strains but not cure existing infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, for its acronym in English) added the HPV vaccine to its official vaccination recommendations in July 2006. It proposed that all American girls of 11 and 12 years received the injections. However, girls only 9 years may receive if they are sexually active. With the idea of ”catching up” with vaccination, the CDC also recommends that girls and women 13 to 26 years of age receive the HPV vaccine, regardless of the results of their Pap tests.
The vaccine works best if placed before the woman has been exposed to HPV. Early vaccination provides the best chance of preventing cervical cancer and genital warts. The CDC recommendations were included older girls and young women because although they have been exposed to HPV, you may not have been exposed to strains found in the vaccine and thus receive some form of protection.