Julie had her virus lasered out within a few months of the diagnosis. “That, if anything, was mortifying,” she laughs. “A doctor shooting laser beams into your privates, while three medical interns stand by to watch. Surreal! But the virus cleared, so I guess it was a small price to pay for a cancer-free existence.”

How it happened, and how you can prevent it.
People contract HPV through any type of genital-to-genital contact, anal or even oral sex with an infected person - no intercourse required. It is also a nondiscriminatory virus; anyone has the potential to contract it. However, there are preventative measures to take, such as practicing abstinence, monogamy, limiting your number of sexual partners and always using a condom.

“I had only slept with two people in my entire life, and both times we had practiced safe sex,” says Julie who, to this day, doesn’t know how she contracted her HPV. “I did try to go after the culprit, only to find out that guys can’t be tested.”

To prevent an infection from persisting, women should avoid smoking, which weakens the immune system, and take a folic acid supplement along with a multivitamin. “Whether it recurs or not relates to a person’s sexual practices,” says retired gynecologist Dr. Harmon Michelson, in practice for over thirty years in Daly City, California. “If a person continues to have unprotected sex after the virus subsides, they have an increased chance of contracting it again. If they use protection, they have less of a chance.”