Vaccines for sexual health: HPV, hepatitis A and B, and mpox

1. 01

   HPV

   Recommended for everyone through age 26. Some adults aged 27 to 45 choose it after talking with a doctor. It prevents the HPV types behind most HPV-related cancers and genital warts.

2. 02

   Hepatitis B

   Recommended for every adult aged 19 to 59, no questions asked about risk, and for older adults with risk factors. Two or three shots, depending on the brand.

3. 03

   Hepatitis A

   Recommended for adults at higher risk, including men who have sex with men. It can pass through close sexual contact. Two doses for long-term protection.

4. 04

   Mpox

   A two-dose vaccine for adults at risk during an outbreak, as defined by CDC's criteria, and for people who have been exposed. Most people will not need it.

Two of these, HPV and hepatitis B, are infections the World Health Organization counts among the main sexually transmitted infections. It notes that safe and highly effective vaccines exist for both (WHO, 2025) (opens in a new tab), calling them major advances in STI prevention. Hepatitis A and mpox are not usually thought of as STIs, but both can pass during close sexual contact, which is why they belong on the same list.

One infection is the exception worth knowing about. The same WHO fact sheet reports mounting evidence that the vaccine that prevents meningitis B (MenB) provides some cross-protection against gonorrhoea, and the NHS (opens in a new tab) offers it through sexual health services to people at higher risk, including some men who have sex with men. It is partial protection, not a shield: the NHS puts it at around 30% to 40%, and says the vaccine does not protect against all gonorrhoea infections. There is still no vaccine for herpes, chlamydia, syphilis or HIV; WHO describes vaccine candidates against herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhoea as being in early clinical development. For those infections, condoms, testing and, for HIV, PrEP do the work. More on that below.

HPV (human papillomavirus) is the most ordinary infection on this page. According to the World Health Organization (2024) (opens in a new tab), almost all sexually active people will be infected at some point in their lives, usually without symptoms, and the immune system usually clears it within a year or two with no lasting effects. A few high-risk types can persist and cause cancers, most often of the cervix, and less often of the anus, vulva, vagina, penis, mouth or throat. Other types cause genital warts.

The vaccine prevents infection with the types that cause most of that harm. CDC says it has the potential to prevent more than 90% of cancers caused by HPV, and that the routine age is 11 to 12, so that protection is in place long before any exposure. For adults, the CDC’s HPV vaccination page (2024) (opens in a new tab) sets out three age bands:

Through age 26. Teens and young adults who did not start or finish the series should get vaccinated. People who start at 15 or older get three doses rather than two.

Ages 27 to 45. Vaccination is not recommended for everyone in this band, but some adults who are not already vaccinated may decide to get it after talking with their doctor about their risk of new HPV infections. CDC is candid that the benefit is smaller here, because more people in this age range have already been exposed. If you are in this band and regularly meet new partners, it is a reasonable question to raise.

Over 45. CDC’s adult guidance stops at 45, so ask a clinician what applies to you. Screening matters at every age: the World Health Organization notes that cervical screening can find precancers that can be treated before they become cancer.

Condoms lower the chance of passing HPV but do not remove it: WHO notes they do not cover all the genital skin. That is covered in our answer do condoms prevent HPV?

Hepatitis B is a virus that affects the liver and can pass through sex, and it is one of the eight infections the World Health Organization lists as causing the most STIs worldwide. It is also one of the easiest decisions on this page. In 2022, CDC’s vaccine advisers recommended hepatitis B vaccination for all adults aged 19 to 59, and the CDC’s hepatitis B vaccination page (2025) (opens in a new tab) still lists “Adults 19–59” plainly among the people it recommends the vaccine for.

Before 2022, adults were offered the vaccine based on risk factors, which meant telling a doctor about your sex life before you could get it. The recommendation itself (Weng et al., MMWR, 2022) (opens in a new tab) explains why that changed: universal vaccination through age 59 removes the need for risk-factor screening and disclosure. It reports that 68% of physicians surveyed named patients not disclosing risk factors as a barrier. In other words, you do not need to explain yourself to get this one.

For adults aged 60 and over, CDC recommends the vaccine for people with risk factors, and the 2022 recommendation lists sexual ones among them: having more than one sex partner in the previous six months, seeking evaluation or treatment for an STI, having a partner with hepatitis B, and men who have sex with men. People 60 and over without known risk factors may receive the vaccine too.

The series is two or three shots depending on the brand, and CDC says it gives long-term protection. If you had the full series as a child or earlier in adulthood, you may already be covered. The record check below will tell you.

Hepatitis A is another liver virus. According to the World Health Organization (2026) (opens in a new tab), it spreads mainly through food or water contaminated by an infected person, but it can also pass through close physical contact such as oral-anal sex. Casual contact does not spread it. WHO lists safer sex, including condoms and dental dams, together with vaccination among the most effective ways to prevent it.

In the US, the CDC’s hepatitis A vaccination page (2025) (opens in a new tab) recommends the vaccine for adults at increased risk. That group includes men who have sex with men, people who use or inject drugs, people experiencing homelessness, people whose jobs expose them, and some international travellers. CDC says a second group should consider it, because hepatitis A can be more serious for them: people with chronic liver disease, including hepatitis B or C, people with HIV, and pregnant women. The single-antigen vaccine is two doses, at least six months apart, for long-term protection.

CDC’s list does not name the lifestyle, and many couples and singles in it will not fall into those groups. If you are not sure, or you travel often, it is an easy thing to ask about at the same appointment as your hepatitis B check.

Mpox is a virus that spreads through close contact, including sex. This is not a vaccine most people need: CDC recommends it for specific groups rather than for everyone. The CDC’s vaccine guidance for clinicians (2026) (opens in a new tab) recommends the two-dose JYNNEOS series, given four weeks apart, for adults at risk during an outbreak. Its criteria centre on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and some transgender or nonbinary people, who in the past six months have had a new STI diagnosis, more than one sex partner, sex at a commercial sex venue, or sex connected with a large public event where mpox is spreading.

Three parts of that guidance reach beyond those groups. It also covers the sex partners of people who meet those criteria, and people who expect to meet them. Travellers get their own line: CDC says people planning to travel to an affected country who expect to have sex with a new partner, sex at a commercial sex venue such as a sex club or bathhouse, sex in exchange for money, goods or drugs, or sex around a large public event should be offered the vaccine. And it recommends the vaccine after an exposure: as soon as possible, ideally within four days, although CDC says a dose given four to 14 days after exposure may still offer some protection.

CDC cites estimates that two doses are 66% to 90% effective at preventing mpox, and says infections after vaccination have typically been milder. If you think you may have been exposed, or your circle overlaps with the groups above, a clinician or your local health department can tell you whether the criteria fit.

1. Step 01

   Ask the people who vaccinated you.

   Your doctor, or a public health clinic you have used, may hold your record. It is the first place CDC suggests adults look.

2. Step 02

   Check your state's registry.

   Some US states keep immunization registries that include adult vaccines. Your state health department can tell you whether yours does and how to request your record. There is no national record, and CDC does not hold personal vaccination histories.

3. Step 03

   Bring the list to a clinician.

   Take whatever you find to a doctor, nurse or sexual health clinic and ask which of the four vaccines on this page make sense for you. Say honestly how many partners you have and what kinds of sex you have. They have heard it all, and it changes the advice.

4. Step 04

   If nothing turns up, that is fine.

   CDC says it is safe to repeat vaccines when records cannot be found, and a doctor can sometimes use a blood test to check whether you are already immune to certain vaccine-preventable diseases.

1. 01

   “I was vaccinated as a kid, so I’m covered.”

   Maybe, but it is worth checking. Universal adult hepatitis B vaccination only began in 2022, and the HPV series needs two or three doses to be complete.

   →

   ↳Check your record once. It takes one phone call and answers the question for years.

2. 02

   “Vaccinated means I can skip condoms and testing.”

   Each vaccine covers one infection. None of them touches chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, herpes or HIV.

   →

   ↳Treat vaccines as one layer, alongside condoms, dental dams and routine testing.

3. 03

   “A vaccine will clear an infection I already have.”

   Vaccines prevent infection. The World Health Organization is explicit that the HPV vaccine is not used to treat HPV or the conditions it causes.

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   ↳If you have symptoms or a positive result, see a clinician about testing and treatment.

For HIV, the prevention medicine is PrEP rather than a vaccine. The CDC’s PrEP page (2026) (opens in a new tab) describes it as pills or shots that greatly reduce the chance of getting HIV from sex, and is clear that it does not prevent other STIs. Whether PrEP suits you is a conversation for a clinician; our guide to PrEP for HIV prevention covers the questions to ask. Doxy PEP, an antibiotic taken after sex, is a different tool again, with a narrow CDC recommendation; see doxy PEP explained.

The rest of the work is done by the habits most people in the lifestyle already treat as ordinary: condoms and other barriers, and routine testing with dated results shared between partners. Our STI basics guide explains which infections each layer covers. The short version is reassuring: most STIs are common, treatable and preventable, and safe, highly effective vaccines exist for two of them.

One thing no vaccine, test or app can do is vouch for another person’s health. A verified profile, on JoinTheSwing or anywhere else, confirms who someone is. It does not tell you their vaccination status, their test results or whether they consent to anything. Those are things you ask about, directly and kindly, before you play.