Question: Do lesbians need to worry about human papillomavirus or HPV?
HPV or human papillomavirus is present in an estimated 70% of the population, so yes, lesbians need to be concerned about HPV. HPV can be passed from woman to woman by skin contact or via mucous membrane contact. HPV can cause genital warts or can lead to cervical cancer. Most times people with HPV do not know they have it and are symptom-free.
Answer: HPV can be passed by fingers or the use of sex toys including dildos and vibrators. For this reason, safe sex should be practiced until you and your partner know if you are infected or not. Pap smears sometimes miss HPV, so be sure to ask your doctor for a full STD screening.
Want to know more about practicing safer sex for lesbians? Here are some good guidelines.
But we're monogamous, do we need to worry about safer sex? The experts offer these guidelines.
