Study: High Prevalence of HPV in Adult Men
In a recent study, researchers performed the first population-based assessment of human papillomavirus (HPV) in men, and found a high prevalence of HPV but low vaccination rate in adult men in the United States.
The study included 1868 men aged 18 to 59 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey examined in mobile examination centers from 2013 to 2014 in order to represent a cross-section of the United States population. Self-collected penile swab specimen were used, and DNA was extracted for HPV genotyping by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Men reported demographic and vaccination information during home-based standardized interviews. Researchers used binary multivariable logistic regression to estimate the odds of HPV infection in participants.
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Overall, genital HPV infection prevalence was 45.2%, and 25.1% of the men had at least 1 high-risk HPV subtype defined in DNA testing. The prevalence of at least 1 HPV strain targeted by HPV 4-valent vaccine was 7.1% in vaccine eligible men. In addition, the prevalence of at least 1 HPV strain targeted by HPV 9-valent vaccine was 15.4% in vaccine-eligible men. HPV vaccination coverage in vaccine-eligible men was only 10.7%.
“The lowest prevalence was 28.9% (95% CI, 22.2%-36.8%) among men aged 18 to 22 years, which increased to 46.5% (95% CI, 38.4%-54.7%) in the next age group (23-27 years) and then remained high and constant in older age groups. (P < .001 for trend). This finding may reflect the current practice of providing HPV vaccination to younger male age groups,” the researchers stated.
“Our study indicates that male HPV vaccination may have a greater effect on HPV infection transmission and cancer prevention in men and women than previously estimated. Further studies may be warranted to evaluate the rationale regarding the current male vaccination age cutoff,” the researchers concluded.
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
Han JJ, Beltran TH, Song JW, et al. Prevalence of genital human papillomavirus infection and human papillomavirus vaccination rates among US adult men: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2014 [published online January 19, 2017]. JAMA Oncology. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.6192.