HPV cannot be treated, which is why screening is the whole strategy

Human papillomavirus is a group of more than 200 related viruses, some of them
spread by sexual contact. Most people have been exposed. Usually the
immune system controls the infection and it clears on its own without causing
anything.

The sexually transmitted ones divide into two categories, and the division is
the whole story:

A high-risk infection can stay at the cervix — the lower part of the uterus —
for many years. Over that time it changes cells, and if those changes are
not found and treated they can become cancer.

Why there is nothing to take

An HPV infection itself cannot be treated. There is no course of anything
that clears it. What can be treated is everything downstream:

• Warts — medicines applied to them; if those fail, freezing, burning or
  surgical removal.
• Cell changes from high-risk HPV — applied medicines or surgical
  procedures.
• HPV-related cancers — generally the same treatments as the equivalent
  cancers that HPV did not cause. The exception is certain oral and throat
  cancers, where the options differ.

Because the infection cannot be treated but its consequences can, **finding
the consequences early is the entire strategy**. Testing for the virus also
informs other treatment decisions.

Screening, and why symptoms are no guide

Some low-risk infections produce warts. **The other types, including every
high-risk type, have no symptoms at all** until years of cell changes have
happened, or until those changes have become cancer. Waiting to feel something
is waiting for the wrong stage.

Nearly all cervical cancers come from a long-lasting high-risk HPV infection,
and screening prevents cancer by finding precancer — changes that might
become cancer — while they are still treatable. For women that means cervical
cancer screening: Pap tests, HPV tests (which use a sample of cervical cells),
or both, and sometimes a colposcopy to look for abnormal cells. Warts a
provider can usually identify by sight.

Prevention

• Vaccines protect against several types, including those causing genital
  warts and some that cause cancer. They give the most protection **before
  exposure**, which means before someone becomes sexually active — ask a
  child's provider about timing. Over 26 and unvaccinated, ask about the
  possible benefits.
• Latex condoms, used correctly, greatly reduce but do not eliminate the
  risk. Polyurethane condoms for a latex allergy.
• Not having anal, vaginal or oral sex is the only complete avoidance.

Source: National Cancer Institute, via MedlinePlus.