Does anyone know if you can get the hpv vaccine if you've already been exposed to one strain?

Question

I want to get the vaccine for hpv but I already had one strain? Can I?

Answer 1

Yes you can still get the vaccine even if you have HPV. I have even heard doctors recommend women and men who already have the virus to get it. The vaccine targets four strains of the virus (6, 11, 16 and 18) not two, like the girl above said. Two of them that have been known to cause cervical cancer and two known to cause genital warts. So if you only have one strain that you know of, and you get the vaccine, you can at least protect yourself from getting any of those four strains that the vaccine protects against! And, if a male gets the vaccine, he will be able to NOT pass those strains on to any future partner he has, which could prevent many women from getting cervical cancer.

I have had HPV for over 5 years and I STILL plan on getting the vaccine. I got cervical cancer the first year I had it, and I got genital warts from it about 7 months ago. I know that it won't "cure" me from the virus, but it can maybe prevent me from getting at least one of the four strains it protects against.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hpv_vaccine#Vaccines_and_clinical_trials

Answer 2

This vaccine will only be given to girls and women ages 9 to 26. Of the HPV strains that cause cancer, the vaccines currently under examination target only two strains, strains 16 and 18, which account for about 70% of HPV-related cancer cases.