“Its literally everywhere. The virus is everywhere,” declares Dr. James Orr. The human papillomavirus, otherwise known as HPV.

If you’re sexually active, the odds of you getting this virus are high. “A woman has an 80% chance of coming in contact with that virus in her lifetime.” Dr. James Orr is the Medical Director for Lee Memorial Health System’s Oncology Services. He says HPV is spread through sexual contact and sometimes a person doesn’t even know they have it. ‘It has no symptoms and that’s the importance of the pap smear and the DNA testing because that allows us to find it,” says Dr. Orr.

There are more than 100 types of HPV. Certain types are classified as high and low risk. Some are associated with genital warts; others are linked to certain cancers. “It has become clear that the human pappilomavirus is the causative agent for almost all pre-malignant and malignant diseases of the cervix. As well as the vagina, as well as the vulva, as well as a perianal region,” he says. The most common of the high risks strains are types 16 and 18, known to cause 70% of all cervical cancers. “If we can eliminate 16 and 18, or the effects of HPV type 16 and 18, we eliminate more than 70 percent of the cervical cancers in this country,” explains Dr. Orr.

Doctors say the only way to reduce your risk is to have a mutually monogamous sexual relationship with an uninfected person.