Back To School Doctor Appointments: 8 HPV Topics to Discuss

By Kaitlyn Thompson HERWriter

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4. How do you become exposed to HPV? How is it passed from person to person?

Exposure to HPV can happen with any kind of adolescent experimentation that involves genital contact with someone who has HPV — intercourse isn't necessary, but is the most common. It may take only one encounter to be infected with HPV.

HPV often has no visible signs or symptoms, so many people are not even aware that they have it. That means someone can pass on the virus without knowing it.

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As back-to-school season approaches and you are preparing to bring your son or daughter for an annual checkup or sports physical, you may already have questions or topics in mind to discuss with your doctor. If you are the parent of an adolescent, asking about human papillomavirus (HPV) and prevention is one more thing to add to the list.

You may have heard about HPV, but there are many misconceptions about what it is and the impact it may have. It’s important to be an advocate for your adolescent while you are still managing his or her health, so in case your doctor does not bring up HPV during your appointment, take the initiative to do so by bringing these eight questions for discussion. Your child's doctor or health care professional can help to clarify things for you.

Sources:

Human Papillomavirus. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/hpv.pdf

Genital HPV Infection - Fact Sheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm

HPV and HPV Testing. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/acspc-043175-pdf.pdf

Genital human papillomavirus infection: incidence and risk factors in a cohort of female university students. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12543621