Preventing genital warts

A good place to start is by finding out about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and how they’re passed on. You might want to ask your doctor or your local health department. Then you can assess your own risk and decide whether and how you want to protect yourself – for instance, by getting yourself vaccinated against HPV.

Condoms and femidoms (condoms for women) can also prevent HPV infections. But they don’t provide complete protection against genital warts because they only cover the penis or vagina. The problem is that the viruses can also occur in nearby areas of skin (like the scrotum, perineum or bottom), which means they can be passed on through intimate contact with those areas too.

Germicidal products that women can put in their vagina before sex haven’t been proven to prevent genital warts. No other precautions are known to help either.

If you’ve got genital warts, it’s important to protect others as well as get yourself treated. So you need to tell anyone you might have infected. It is also important that you don’t have sex with anyone who hasn’t had an HPV vaccine until you finish the treatment and your warts have gone. This might not always be necessary, though, so it’s a good idea to ask a doctor what protective measures you need to take.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations protect you against all the different types of health problems HPVs can cause. HPV types 6 and 11 cause non-cancerous genital warts. Other HPV types can cause changes in tissue, particularly around the cervix, which can develop into cancer.

Two HPV vaccines are available in Germany. One of them provides protection against nine HPV types, including HPV 6 and 11. It is a newer version of a previous, 4-in-1 vaccine. As well as giving protection against the two viruses that cause genital warts, the 9-in-1 vaccine protects you against seven HPV types that increase the risk of cancer.

HPV is mainly passed on through sex, so the aim is to make sure people have all their jabs before their first sexual contact. The recommendation in Germany is to vaccinate girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 14. At the latest, they should have had any missed doses by the age of 18. Adults looking to protect themselves against genital warts can get vaccinated too, but not all health insurers will pay then. To be on the safe side, it’s best to ask your insurance company.

The second dose isn’t needed until at least five months after the first one. If you got your second shot earlier, or didn’t have the first one until after your 15th birthday, you’ll need three shots overall.

HPV vaccination has been proven to prevent the development of cancerous changes in the skin. There is also reliable evidence that the 9-in-1 vaccine prevents genital warts. But there is not as much data on this. Research has tended to focus on the (older) 4-in-1 vaccine, which has been compared with a placebo in several studies. This is what was found:

The 4-in-1 vaccine prevents genital warts in girls and also in women who have already had sex. One group of researchers concluded this after analyzing four studies involving more than 20,000 participants overall. Most of the participants were between the ages of 16 and 26. They were given either the vaccine or a placebo and then – in most cases – monitored for the following two to three years. During this time period, genital warts developed in

• 15 out of 1,000 participants who had been given a placebo and
• 6 out of 1,000 participants who had been vaccinated.

Less data is available for boys and men. But a study involving over 4,000 male participants between the ages of 16 and 26 also showed that the 4-in-1 vaccine provided protection against genital warts. It found that genital warts developed within three years in

• 35 out of 1,000 participants who had been given a placebo and
• 12 out of 1,000 participants who had been vaccinated.

Research suggests that the vaccine is even more effective in people who haven’t yet had sex or contact with human papillomaviruses.

Most people don’t have any problems with HPV vaccines. Possible side effects include reddening, swelling and soreness around the injection site, but they’re usually harmless. Serious side effects, like an allergic reaction, are very rare.

If you have a feverish illness (such as a bad cold) on the scheduled vaccination date, it’s best to postpone the vaccination appointment. But you can still have the shot if you only have a minor infection – like a runny nose or a slight temperature. Pregnant people are better off postponing the HPV vaccination until after they’ve given birth. But there’s currently no evidence that it’s dangerous for the unborn baby. It is generally possible to have the vaccine if you’re breastfeeding.