Would the HPV vaccine prevent me from getting plantar warts?
Vaccines are pretty specific. There are dozens of kinds of HPV. The vaccines are designed to prevent just two to four of them. There might be some effect; none of the studies have looked for it. But it’s like the reason you have to get a new flu shot every year: each flu is different, and each HPV is different. It would be great to target the HPV virus in general, but it’s hard. They all share a lot of common properties, but not all of them have weaknesses. The vaccine works by triggering an immune response to certain highly specific chemicals. If you make it too general, then you risk having the immune system attack you, too, and that really sucks.
