"The fervor around HIV and AIDS is much higher," says David S. Rosenthal '59, director of University Health Services. "HPV is less understood by students and the College. I think it's one of those abstract things that people don't think about."

According to Rosenthal, most of the education about HPV, like other STDs, is done through peer groups like Peer Contraceptive Counselors.

Although students come in with HPV, it is fortunately not especially rampant at Harvard, Rosenthal said. College, however, is a time when some students may be initially infected.

"The emphasis is that it's just like alcohol in that there is a delayed effect. Contact with HPV can be a precursor to cervical cancer," Rosenthal says. "Women need to have routine Pap smears.

"You still need to be sure to have anything diagnosable treated early because it can eventually have to do with cancer," he says.