HPV Toolkit: Teens
HPV Fact Zone
This is an exciting time in your life!! You have so much potential to pursue your goals and become what you want to be. This is also a time when you are confronted with a lot of personal decisions that warrant careful thought and consideration. Sexual activity can put you at-risk for several sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Recent reports show that one in four teenage girls between the ages of 14-19 has an STD. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common STD. Most of the time, people don’t even know that they have HPV; but this doesn’t mean that they can’t spread it to others. All it takes is skin-to-skin contact to become exposed to HPV. Certain types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, penile and rectal cancers and possibly certain lung cancers. Knowledge about your HPV risk can help you compare how your current choices may impact where you want to be in the future. Consider the information below when you are trying to make these personal decisions.