Prevention

Limiting your number of sexual partners and being vaccinated will help prevent you from getting genital warts. Using a condom every time you have sex is a good idea, but won't necessarily protect you from genital warts.

Vaccination

Three HPV vaccines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The most recent, Gardasil 9 is approved for use in males and females ages 9 to 45 to protect against cervical cancer and genital warts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine HPV vaccination for girls and boys ages 11 and 12, although it can be given as early as age 9.

It's ideal for girls and boys to receive the vaccine before they have sexual contact.

Side effects from the vaccines are usually mild and include soreness at the injection site, headaches, a low-grade fever or flu-like symptoms.

The CDC now recommends that all 11- and 12-year-olds receive two doses of HPV vaccine at least six months apart, instead of the previously recommended three-dose schedule. Younger adolescents ages 9 and 10 and teens ages 13 and 14 also are able to receive vaccination on the updated two-dose schedule. Research has shown that the two-dose schedule is effective for children under 15.

Teens and young adults who begin the vaccine series later, at ages 15 through 26, should continue to receive three doses of the vaccine.