HPV, or Human Papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, impacting more than 42 million Americans.

Nearly everyone who is not vaccinated will get an HPV infection at some point in their lifetime, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

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It’s spread through intimate skin-to-skin contact via vaginal, anal or oral sex.

While most infections go away within two years, some can cause cancers.

Dr. Alex McDonald, a family medicine physician with Kaiser Permanente, joined KCRA 3 on Thursday to talk about the virus and the importance of vaccination.

“If you’re given a two-series dose of vaccines between the ages of 9 and 12, it can prevent up to 90% of HPV-related cancers, and that’s just a phenomenal number

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