21% of men over the age of 15 carry a high-risk form of HPV, according to a new study.
- 31% of men worldwide are infected with at least one type of highly contagious HPV.
- About one in five men carry a high-risk form of this virus.
- HPV prevalence was high in young adults, peaking between ages 25 and 29 and stabilizing or declining slightly thereafter.
“The epidemiology of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women is well documented. In contrast, in men, it is less well known”, reported an international team of researchers. As a reminder, the papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. This family of viruses is related “at the appearance of several cancers: cervix, vagina, vulva, but also anus, penis and several cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (oral cavity, oropharynx, tonsils)”, according to the Léon Bérard Cancer Center.
31% of men over the age of 15 are infected with at least one type of papillomavirus
In a recent study, published in the journal The Lancet Global Health, the scientists wanted to provide updated estimates of the overall, type- and age-specific prevalence of human papillomavirus infection, aggregated globally and regionally. To carry out their work, they reviewed 65 research studies, involving 44,769 men, carried out in 35 countries between 1995 and 2022. The inclusion criteria were surveys based on a population of men aged 15 or over. or cohorts on the prevalence of the papillomavirus with a sample of at least 50 men without pathology linked to this family of viruses or to known risk factors for infection.
According to the results, 31% of men over the age of 15 are affected by at least one of the papillomaviruses. The team said that 21% of participants would carry a high-risk form of this virus, which can cause cancer. “HPV prevalence was high among young adults, peaking between ages 25 and 29, and stabilized or declined slightly thereafter. Pooled prevalence estimates were similar for Europe, North America, North, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Australia and New Zealand Estimates for East and Southeast Asia were half those of the others regions”, can we read in the study.
HPV: “sexually active men constitute a major reservoir of infection”
The researchers found that two genotypes of the virus, HPV-16 and HPV-6, were the most common. HPV-16 is high risk for cancer and HPV-6 is low risk, but it causes warts on the genitals. “Our results show that the prevalence of HPV is high in men over 15 years of age and confirm that sexually active men, regardless of age, constitute an important reservoir of genital HPV infection. These estimates underscore the importance to integrate men into global HPV prevention strategies in order to reduce the risk of infection”, concluded the scientists.