2023-08-16 16:51:05
One in three men over the age of 15 is infected with at least one type of human papilloma virus (HPV) genital and one in five is infected with one or more of what are known as high-risk or oncogenic HPV types. These are the latest data published by the magazineThe Lancet Global Health‘ which shows how important it is also to protect the male sex.
The study, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Idibell), is based on a systematic review and meta-analysis that assesses the prevalence of genital HPV infection in the general male population. It is based on 65 studies involving almost 45,000 men from 35 countries.
The estimates presented also show that the prevalence was high in young adults and reached a maximum between the ages of 25 and 29, to stabilize or decrease slightly thereafter. 31% of men contract at least one type of HPV throughout their lives. In addition, 21% of males over the age of 15 worldwide are ever infected with one or more high-risk or oncogenic types of genital human papilloma.
Pooled prevalence estimates were similar for Europe, North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand, while those for East and Southeast Asia they were half that of the other regions.
Uterine cancer
Most HPV infections cause no symptoms and go away without intervention, but certain types can cause anogenital warts or cancer. Human papillomavirus is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women, and each year more than 340,000 women die from HPV-related cervical cancer. In men, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimated that in 2018 there were more than 69,400 cases of cancer caused by HPV. HPV-related cancers in men include penile, anal, oral, and throat cancers.
Despite the fact that most human papilloma infections are asymptomatic, the authors of the study intend to raise awareness with these data about the importance of incorporating the male population into prevention and vaccination strategies to reduce mortality in both women and men.
#men #infected #papillomavirus