HPV, or human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and there is no cure for the virus itself. However, about 90% of HPV infections clear on their own within six to 18 months as the immune system fights off the virus. The distinction matters: while no medication can eliminate HPV from your body, the infection usually resolves without treatment, and the health problems it sometimes causes (warts and precancerous changes) are treatable.
What HPV Actually Is
HPV is a group of more than 200 related viruses, not a single one. The strains that spread through sexual contact fall into two categories: low-risk and high-risk. Low-risk types rarely cause serious health problems but can produce warts on or around the genitals, anus, mouth, or throat. In rare cases, warts form in the airway and cause breathing difficulties.
High-risk types are the ones linked to cancer. There are 12 high-risk strains, but two of them, HPV 16 and HPV 18, are responsible for the majority of HPV-related cancers. These high-risk strains don’t cause warts. Instead, they can silently trigger cell changes that, over years or decades, develop into cancer of the cervix, anus, throat, vagina, vulva, or penis.
The infection is extremely common. More than 42 million Americans currently carry disease-causing HPV types, and roughly 13 million new infections occur each year. The CDC puts it bluntly: nearly everyone will get HPV at some point in their lives.
How HPV Spreads
HPV spreads primarily through vaginal or anal sex, but also through close skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity. A person can transmit it even when they have no visible warts or symptoms, which is one reason the virus is so widespread. Condoms reduce the risk but don’t eliminate it, because HPV can infect skin that a condom doesn’t cover.
Why HPV Isn’t “Curable” but Often Doesn’t Matter
No antiviral drug targets HPV the way antibiotics target bacterial infections like chlamydia. Once you’re infected, you can’t take a pill to clear the virus. That said, your immune system handles the job on its own in the vast majority of cases. Roughly 90% of infections become undetectable within six to 18 months, with the body suppressing the virus to the point where it no longer causes harm or shows up on tests.
The tricky part is that “undetectable” may not always mean “gone.” Research shows that HPV can remain dormant at very low levels in tissue even after a negative test result. This is why some people test positive again years later, sometimes after a new sexual partner and sometimes without one. Studies estimate that among women with a new positive result who recently had a new partner, 18% to 36% of those detections are likely reactivations of a previous infection rather than a new one.
For most people, this latency is clinically irrelevant. The virus stays suppressed, causes no symptoms, and poses no cancer risk. The concern is primarily for people whose immune systems become weakened, which can allow the virus to reactivate. In animal studies, immune suppression increased viral activity in previously latent infections.
What HPV Can Do to Your Health
Genital Warts
Low-risk HPV types (mainly types 6 and 11) cause genital warts. These are flesh-colored growths that can appear weeks, months, or even years after exposure. They’re not dangerous but can be uncomfortable, recurrent, and distressing. Warts are treatable but may come back, especially in the first few months after treatment.
Cancer
High-risk HPV causes approximately 39,300 cancers per year in the United States. The breakdown by site gives a clearer picture of who is affected:
- Cervical cancer: about 11,100 cases per year, with 91% of cervical cancers caused by HPV
- Throat cancer (oropharyngeal): about 16,000 cases, the largest single category. Men account for roughly 13,600 of these, making throat cancer the most common HPV-related cancer in men.
- Anal cancer: about 7,600 cases, affecting women roughly twice as often as men
- Vulvar cancer: about 3,000 cases per year
- Penile cancer: about 900 cases per year
- Vaginal cancer: about 700 cases per year
These cancers develop slowly. HPV infection leads to precancerous cell changes first, and those changes take years to progress. This is why cervical screening (Pap tests and HPV tests) is so effective: it catches the problem at a stage where it can be treated before cancer ever develops.
How Warts and Precancerous Changes Are Treated
While the virus itself isn’t curable, the problems it causes are highly treatable. For genital warts, the approach depends on the size, number, and location of the growths. Smaller warts can often be treated at home with prescription creams that stimulate the local immune response or break down wart tissue. Treatment courses typically run four to 16 weeks.
For larger or more stubborn warts, a healthcare provider can freeze them off with liquid nitrogen, surgically remove them, or apply a chemical acid that destroys the tissue. No single method works better than the others across the board. The choice usually comes down to what’s practical given the wart’s location and the patient’s preference. Warts sometimes return after treatment because the underlying virus may still be present in nearby skin.
Precancerous cervical changes detected through screening are handled differently. Minor changes are often monitored, since many resolve on their own. More advanced changes can be removed through a short outpatient procedure that takes a small section of cervical tissue. This prevents progression to cancer and is highly effective.
The Vaccine Changes Everything
The HPV vaccine (Gardasil 9) protects against nine HPV types: the seven high-risk strains responsible for most HPV-related cancers (types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58) and the two low-risk types that cause most genital warts (types 6 and 11). It’s recommended for preteens at age 11 or 12, but it can be given as early as age 9 and is approved through age 45.
The vaccine works best before any exposure to HPV, which is why it’s given before most people become sexually active. But even for adults who have already been exposed to some HPV types, the vaccine can still protect against strains they haven’t encountered yet. It does not treat existing infections or clear the virus from someone who already has it.
Since the vaccine was introduced in 2006, infections with the HPV types it covers have dropped dramatically among vaccinated populations. For anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated, it remains the single most effective way to reduce HPV-related health risks.