How to Prevent Genital Warts

The best way to prevent genital warts is to avoid sex or have sex with only one uninfected partner. Using condoms also may help to prevent infection. However, condoms can't always cover all affected skin. Factors that increase your risk of becoming infected include:

Having other STDs (because the risk factors are the same)
Multiple sex partners
Smoking
Certain vitamin
deficiencies
Medications or medical conditions that suppress the immune system, such as AIDS
If you have had genital warts, you should be tested for cervical cancer at least once every year. Cervical cancer can be prevented with regular screening (Pap smears), and can be cured in most cases when it is detected in early stages.
HPV vaccines can be helpful in preventing genital warts. There are currently two vaccines FDA approved and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These are Gardasil andCervarix. One of the vaccines, Gardasil, targets HPV types 6 and 11, the types of HPV that cause 90 percent of genital warts. Both Gardasil and Cervarix protect against the major cervical cancer-causing strains, 16 and 18. Cervarix and Gardasil are effective for girls 9 through 26 years old. Only Gardasil has been licensed for use in males.
Both vaccines are given as a set of three shots over six months. The vaccine will not cure existing infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all 11- and 12-year-old American girls get the shots, although girls as young as 9 could receive it if they're sexually active. For "catch-up," the CDC also recommends that girls and women ages 13 to 26 be vaccinated against HPV, regardless of their Pap test results.

The vaccine works best before an individual has been exposed to HPV. Early vaccination provides the greatest chance of preventing cervical cancer and genital warts. Older girls and young women were included in the CDC recommendations because even if they've had some exposure to HPV, it may not be to the strains contained in the vaccine, so they'll they may get some protection.