Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a fairly common sexually transmitted infection. But if HPV in women has been the subject of many studies, the prevalence of the virus in men (or viruses since behind HPV hides in reality a whole family of viruses) is less known.
Spanish researchers from the Catalan Institute of Oncology therefore carried out a systematic review of all studies published between January 1, 1995 and June 1, 2022, to assess the prevalence of genital HPV infection in the male population.
A reservoir of genital HPV infection
“We identified 5685 publications from database searches, of which 65 studies (including 44,769 men) from 35 countries were included,” the researchers explain. “Our results show that the prevalence of human papillomavirus is high in men over the age of 15 and confirm that sexually active men, regardless of age, constitute an important reservoir of genital HPV infection”.
The data thus show that almostone in three men worldwide is infected with at least one type of genital HPV and about one in five men is infected with a more aggressive form of the virus, which can cause ENT cancer or anal cancer.
Men should not be excluded from prevention
“It demonstrates the importance to integrate men into global strategies for the prevention of the virus to reduce HPV-related morbidity and mortality,” the scientists conclude.
Remember that in France, the High Authority for Health recommends vaccinating all boys aged 11 to 14 against the human papillomavirus. For its part, the League against cancer has long been asking that this vaccination become compulsory for girls and boys, and that it be 100% covered, the only means of preventing 6400 annual cancers in France which are attributable to HPV.
Source : Global and regional estimates of genital human papillomavirus prevalence among men: a systematic review and meta-analysisThe Lancet, August 2023
