Over a typical college career, more than 60 percent of women will have acquired the Human Papilloma Virus, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer in women. But because HPV usually has no symptoms and usually goes away on its own, many people are unaware of HPV and its potential health problems.

Men, especially, are in the dark about HPV because there is no FDA-approved HPV test for men – unless they have genital warts, diagnosed through visual inspection – and it is not covered in early sex education classes.

“I remember one of my friends said his girlfriend had it and I didn’t know it was an STD,” Daniel Waterman, 25, senior psychology major said.

According to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. At least 50 percent of sexually active people will have genital HPV at some point in their lifetime. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection.

Genital HPV infection is caused by a group of viruses of more than 100 different strains or types.

Low-risk strains of HPV can cause mild cell abnormalities in a woman’s cervix, seen through the results of her pap smear, a vaginal swab. It can also cause genital warts: single or multiple growths or bumps that may appear on the vulva, vagina, cervix, anus, or penis. Sometimes they are cauliflower shaped. High-risk strains can cause abnormal pap test results and may lead to cancer in the cervix, vagina, anus or penis.

Most women are diagnosed with HPV because of abnormal Pap tests, the primary cancer-screening tool for cervical cancer or precancerous changes in the cervix, often related to HPV.

Dr. Christopher Carrington, the SF State director of the human sexuality program, said most men tend to have genital warts around the anus, even if they have never had anal sex, and less so on the penis, so they may not notice any outbreaks.

Gay men tend to be more aware of HPV, and since anal cancer is more common in gay, bisexual and HIV-positive men, some experts recommend routine anal Pap tests, used to find abnormal cells in the anus caused by HPV, which could turn into cancer over time.

Carrington also suggested that there might be a greater ignorance on the part of men because women tend to be more aware of their bodies and more likely to use the health care system.

“Historically, women are the sources of disease,” Carrington said. “There is this legacy of sexism, a legacy of men not taking care of their bodies.”

Condoms provide some, but not total protection against HPV. There is no treatment or cure for HPV, only ways to treat the health conditions associated with it, such as genital warts or cancer.

In June, the FDA approved Gardasil, a vaccine for girls and women ages 9-26, which protects against four HPV types that together cause 70 percent of cervical cancer and 90 percent of genital warts.

The vaccine was found to be safe for boys and men, but studies have not been done to determine if the vaccine is effective in preventing genital warts or penile and anal cancers. The studies are planned according to the American Cancer Society.