He's smart and funny, but is he vaccinated for HPV?

The bad news: Some strains of the super-common STI human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause genital warts and cervical cancer. The good news: There’s a vaccine that protects against the most common of these strains and it is recommended for both girls and guys. Among young women who’ve gotten the vaccine, there has been a 56% drop in the strains of HPV it protects against. And here’s the latest: female students at an urban college preferred partners who have been vaccinated for HPV, regardless of whether the women themselves had been vaccinated.

So, guys must be lining up to get vaccinated, right?

Unfortunately, not so much. As of 2012, only around 21% of young men had gotten at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, and only 7% had gotten all three of the recommended doses. The ladies were doing better: 54% of young women had received at least one dose and 33% had received all three doses.

Spread the word!

The good news is that the number of young men who’ve gotten at least one dose of the HPV vaccine more than doubled between 2011 and 2012, so hopefully guys will catch up sooner or later. Do your part by spreading the word—getting vaccinated can be good for your health and for your dating life!