Since HPV is spread by touch, any close personal contact is a risk for transmission, Cackovic says. While it sounds shocking, Michael Cackovic, M.D., an ob-gyn at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, calls the findings 'no great surprise.' 'There are over 100 In a nutshell, you could run the risk of contracting HPV during a visit to the doctor or your gym. How is that even possible? Scientists say transmission happened from hands to genitals (think: masturbation, fooling around with a partner, or even just touching the general genital area), but they also found that HPV was on surfaces in medical settings and public environments which then found its way into patients.

Among the findings, researchers discovered that HPV can be found in the genital tract of up to 51 percent of female virgins. The study, which was published in the journal Sexual Health, analyzed 51 studies conducted on HPV.

Now, new research has found that you don't necessarily have to have sex to get HPV.

HPV is common-but it can cause everything from genital warts to cancer, making it a virus you really don't want to catch. It's been drilled into us: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection, and failure to practice safe sex increases your risk of getting HPV.

Can you get hpv from touching hands