HPV is a common virus that is spread through sexual contact. There are many different types of HPV, and many do not cause problems. However, certain types of HPV can lead to:

Cervical cancer in women

Genital warts in men and women

Cancer of the penis or anus in men

Two vaccines (called Gardasil and Cervarix) are approved:

Both of the vaccines protect against the two types of HPV that cause most cases of cervical cancer. (Other, less common types of HPV can still cause cervical cancer.)

These vaccines do not treat cervical cancer.

Cervarix is approved for:

Females age 10 - 26 to help protect against cervical cancer