ways HPV can be contracted

[spokenonlyonce.livejournal.com]

I hope no one minds if I start a whole new post on this, instead of asking in comments from the other post where HPV is being discussed. I'm starting a new post because I think it is very important that we all have as much infromation as possible about how HPV can in fact be contracted.

Because HPV is an STI, there is controversy over a vaccination for it, and many people think that as long as you engage in "safe sex" you shouldn't have to have the vaccine. However, it has been stated already that HPV can be passed from skin contact, so condoms do not protect against it as well as they prevent, say, HIV.

I have heard, though, that you can even contract HPV from things like toilet seats, for instance if you go into a toilet right after another woman has used it and neither of you uses seat protectors. I do not know this to be true. Can anyone confirm or deny (and ideally cite sources) that HPV can be transmitted in indirect ways like this?

Comments

[free-me07.livejournal.com]

I should add that it is generally impossible to prove a negative. No one can prove that it is impossible to spread the disease that way, just like no one can prove that unicorns don't exist. You can simply prove that it is unlikely, or that there are no confirmed cases of HPV spread in this manner (or there has never been a confirmed unicorn sighting... however you choose to look at it). :)