HPV

Current vaccination and screening recommendations

Use HPV Vaccination

Vaccinate both girls and boys ages 11 to 12 against HPV

• Girls and boys have the best protection when they receive all doses as recommended before they are exposed to HPV.
• Girls ages 13-26 and boys ages 13-21 should get the vaccine if they have not received it already.

Screen Women for Cervical Cancer

• Use Pap tests every 3 years for women ages 21-29
  • Doctors or nurses collect cells for the Pap test during an exam.
  • The Pap test can find abnormal cells that may develop into cancer, if left untreated.
• Choose 1 of 2 options for women ages 30-65
  
  Doctor and patient decide together which screening approach is preferred:
  1. Pap test every 3 years, or;
  2. Pap test plus HPV test every 5 years. The HPV test can find the HPV virus by testing cells collected at the same time as a Pap test.
• Women should get screened as recommended. More frequent screening does not provide more protection.
  • Some women may need a different screening schedule because of their health history.
  • Women over age 65 should ask their doctor if they need to continue screening.
  • Women should talk with their doctors and nurses to understand their screening results.
  • Women who had the HPV vaccine should still start getting screened when they reach age 21.