They are less targeted by vaccination campaigns against the virus, but are likely to be carriers. A study published on Wednesday in The Lancet Global Health journal estimates that almost a third (31%) of men in the world are affected by a form of HPV, the papillomavirus, and that more than one in five men (21%) is also a carrier of a form with high risk of this virus, which can cause cancer.
In detail, this study identified by The world demonstrates “that the prevalence of HPV is high in men over 15 years old”, and confirms “that sexually active men, whatever their age, constitute an important reservoir of genital HPV infection”.
“By age, the prevalence of HPV was very high among young adults, reaching a peak between 25 and 29 years and stabilizing or decreasing slightly thereafter”, indicates the study, which specifies that this prevalence was similar “in Europe , North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Australia and New Zealand”, but halved in East and Southeast Asia.
Two genotypes of the virus were most common: HPV-16, which is high risk for cancer, and HPV-6, which is low risk but causes warts on the genitals.
It is important to “integrate men” into prevention
These results underline, according to the authors of the study, “the importance of integrating men into global HPV prevention strategies in order to reduce HPV-related morbidity and mortality in men and, ultimately account, to eliminate cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers in charge of the study carried out a meta-analysis aimed at “determining the prevalence of genital HPV infection in the general male population”, on 5685 scientific publications published between January 1, 1995 and June 1, 2022.
The papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world, and causes cancer of the cervix, but is also the cause of a large proportion of cancers of the anus and oropharynx in the two sexes. It can be prevented by a vaccine, recommended, in France, for all young girls and boys from 11 to 19 years old.