Genital human papillomavirus infections in male university students
Posted by ajcann on November 8, 2007
In contrast to the wealth of data on human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in women, much less is known about HPV in men. Between June 2003 and March 2006, a total of 240 heterosexually active male university students 18-20 years of age were recruited for participation in a cohort study of HPV infection. Genital cell samples were collected, at 4-month intervals, for HPV-DNA analysis by polymerase chain reaction. The subjects maintained a web-based journal of sexual activity. At 24 months, the cumulative incidence of new infection of any genital HPV type was 62.4%. Acquisition rates did not differ by genital site of initial detection. The most commonly detected types were HPV-84 and HPV-16. In multivariate analysis, a report of a new sex partner during the prior 0-4 months and a history of smoking were associated with an elevated risk of HPV acquisition. Genital HPV infection is common and multifocal in young men, and its incidence is higher than that reported for similar cohorts of young women. The high rates of HPV infection in men should be considered when strategies for the prevention of HPV infection in female adolescents and young women are being developed.
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November 8, 2007 at 1:23 pm
At last, studies on men for genital HPV…Anna-Lise Williamson here in Cape Town has done a good deal of HPV epidemiology, and showed in a study from a while ago that couples seemed not to share their HPVs very often - which could mean that easily-detectable HPV types in men and women differ because of different susceptibilities of the different sites being sampled? There is a tantalising hint of this in the paper under discussion, where HPV 84 is found in men along with HPV 16: this is not common, and especially not in genital disease in women. So are they infected, but without symptoms / pathology?
In any case, use of the genital HPV vaccines is going to give rise to some interesting sequelae…like replacement of HPVs 16 and 18 by other types in cervical cancers?