2023-08-16 19:49:19
Vaccination against human papillomaviruses in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on May 31, 2023. JEROEN JUMELET / EPA-EFE
Long associated with exclusively female problems, human papillomaviruses (HPV) are increasingly identified by researchers as a public health threat affecting both sexes. Nearly a third (31%) of men over the age of fifteen are affected by at least one of these highly contagious viruses and, more importantly, one in five men (21%) is a carrier of a high-level HPV. risk, that is to say potentially oncogenic. These figures, taken froma study published on Wednesday August 16 in the journal The Lancet Global Healthconfirm that sexually active men, regardless of their age, are an important reservoir of genital infections, as well as the importance of including the male population in HPV vaccination campaigns.
This meta-analysis considered 65 studies conducted in 35 countries between 1995 and 2022 and found comparable data in most regions of the world, with the exception of East and Southeast Asia, where the rates are half as high. It shows that the prevalence of these infections, i.e. the number of cases at a given time, was highest among men aged 25 to 29 (35%) and remained at a high level until at 50 years old. But the equally high prevalence among young people aged 15 to 19 (28%) suggests that men are infected quickly after their first sexual intercourse. This infection profile is slightly different from that of women, in whom prevalence peaks shortly after first sexual activity and declines over time, with a slight rebound after age 50–55 in some populations.
A previous meta-analysis published in 2010 showed that in women without cancer, the worldwide prevalence of cervical infection, ie the cervix, caused by HPV was almost 12%. But in 2014, a study conducted in the United States estimated that over their lifetime, 85% of women who have had at least one sexual encounter with a man are at risk of contracting an HPV infection, compared with 91% of men. HPVs are the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world. Among the 200 types of papillomavirus that can be transmitted sexually, about fifteen are considered high risk, whether in men or women.
Vaccination, the only means of prevention
While most infections are asymptomatic and eliminated naturally by the body, some are persistent and can lead to cancer. Among women, the most common is that of the cervix, causing the death of more than 340,000 women each year. In men, these infections can manifest clinically as anogenital warts, which cause significant morbidity and increase transmission rates, as well as penile, anal, and oropharyngeal disorders. The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimated that in 2018, 69,400 cases of cancer were caused in this population by HPV infection.
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