Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a group of more than 200 related viruses that are spread by skin-to-skin and sexual contact. Not only is it the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, but about half of the infections are with high-risk strains that are responsible for roughly 3% of all cancers in people assigned female at birth and 2% in those assigned male.
Fortunately, there’s a vaccine for HPV — and thanks to an October 2018 decision by the Food and Drug Administration, Gardasil 9 (the latest version of the vaccine) was approved for people up to age 45. That means people who were past the previous age limit of 26 have the green light to get catch-up jabs.