Here's a few HPV facts I have acquired throughout my journey:

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the US. You can transmit the virus by touching someone's skin (warts) and kissing, both orally and vaginally, just to name a few.

HPV infects the squamous cells and can cause cancers of the cervix, vagina, penis, BOT, Tonsils and anus.

By age 50 at least 80% of women will have acquired the HPV virus. This is known because their bodies have produced the antibodies. The CDC estimates that 80% of the entire US population will have HPV at some point in their lives. How many will have the oncogenic (cancer causing) forms is unknown.

Our immune system normally (estimated 90% of the time) clears the invading HPV.

This year 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the US and 3700 will die.

Over 9000 new cases of HPV related cancers in AMERICAN MEN each year are diagnosed in the US and half will die.

More men die from HPV related cancers than women.

The HPV virus may lie dormant for DECADES before cellular changes are seen, when, as we know, it may be too late to deal with. Many HPV positive cancers are not found until they are already a Stage III or IV.

There are well over 100 known strains of HPV and HPV 16 is the most prevalent strain causing cancer.

In the US alone there are already over 20 million people infected by HPV and 6.2 million additional people are infected each and every year by HPV.

There is no evidence that vaginally infected HPV will travel to other sites within the body and vice versa.

Science knows exacting how the HPV virus turns a good cell into a cell out of control (cancer) but even with that knowledge the only way they have found to treat it is to either remove or kill the bad cell and any good cells in the vicinity.

Scientists do not know if, after killing all the HPV transformed bad cells, if one can be reinfected and if reinfected can they still cause more cancer. To me that's only logical.

They also do not know why it goes dormant; where it goes dormant; what triggers it's revival and what exact role our immune system plays in preventing or allowing HPV to do it's thing.

There is a vaccine (Gardasil) that seems to be 100% effective in preventing the infection of pre sexually active, i.e., not already infected, 4 different strains of HPV, including 16 and there have been several studies attempting to boost the immune systems' response to already acquired HPV.

Hopefully with increased attention to the virus more will be discovered and one day HPV will no longer cause cancer.