Sexually Active Males Have an HPV Recurrence Problem

A new study reported the recurrence of genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections is relatively common among men.
It's known that having multiple sexual partners is one of the risk factors of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection which is a major cause of cervical cancer.
And, high-risk sexual behaviors by men are placing women at greater cervical cancer risk.
The study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases reported 31 percent of prior prevalent, and 20 percent of prior incident HPV infections recurred in males.
This means the higher numbers of new male sexual partners were consistently associated with higher recurrence of incident infections in both type-specific (HPV 16) and grouped analyses.
Additionally, the number of new female partners and frequency of sexual intercourse were also associated with higher recurrence of prevalent HPV 6, 16, and 31 infections.
This study estimated that more than 9,000 cases of HPV-related cancers occur in men each year, responsible for 63 percent of penile, 91 percent of anal, and 72 percent of oropharyngeal cancers.
And, low-risk HPV infection is not without consequence, with HPV-6 and HPV-11 responsible for 90% of genital warts.
To prevent these infections, these researchers suggest gender-neutral HPV vaccine policies that target adolescent males and females are needed to protect against the initial HPV infection, recurrent infections, and importantly the prevalence of disease-causing HPV types circulating in the overall community.
The purpose of this study was to assess genital recurrence of HPV genotypes included in the 9-valent vaccine and investigate factors associated with recurrence among men in the HPV Infection in Men (HIM) Study.
This new study’s findings support a previous 2017 study that found men infected with HPV16 were 20 times more likely to be reinfected with the same type of HPV after one year.
Moreover, the 2017 study found the same effect in both men who are sexually active and celibate, suggesting that they are not reacquiring the virus from another sexual partner. "This increased risk occurs in both sexually active and celibate men, suggesting that it arises from autoinoculation, episodic reactivation of latent virus, or both."
“This data show why HPV vaccination is so important,” said Anna R. Giuliano, Ph.D., director of the Center for Infection Research in Cancer at the Moffitt Cancer Center.
“Vaccinating boys before they are sexually active or exposed to HPV could prevent initial infection.”
“It may also be beneficial to vaccinate older men who have already had the virus to reduce their risk of reinfection,” said Dr. Giuliano.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and are the central cause of various cancers.
In the United States, 79 million persons are estimated to be infected with some type of HPV, with approximately half of new infections occurring before age 24 years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of genital infection with any of the 40 types of HPV 42.5% among US adults aged 18 to 59 years.
While most HPV infections are asymptomatic and pass on their own within a few years, HPV types 16 and 18 are the cause of 66% of cervical cancers in the United States, while HPV 6 and HPV 11 cause about 90% of all genital warts, says the CDC.
HPV vaccines can be found in most pharmacies and physician offices in the USA. To easily schedule an HPV vaccination appointment, please visit this page.
The CDC Vaccine Price List provides HPV vaccine prices for general information. And vaccine discounts can be found here.
Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects, says the CDC. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of vaccines to the FDA or CDC.
These researchers did not disclose any conflicts of interest: Shitaldas J Pamnani, Staci L Sudenga, Dana E Rollison, Donna J Ingles, Martha Abrahamsen, Luisa L Villa, Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce, Yangxin Huang, Amy Borenstein, Anna R Giuliano.
Our Trust Standards: Medical Advisory Committee
- Recurrence of Genital Infections with Nine HPV Vaccine Types (6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58) among Men
- Natural History of HPV Infection in Men: The HIM Study
- Recurring infection with ecologically distinct HPV types can explain high prevalence and diversity
- Prevalence of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection and Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Rates Among US Adult Men
- Characteristics of human papillomaviruses infection in men with genital warts in Shanghai