Discussion - Study Shows Half of Men May Have HPV Infections

vancity_cowboy

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Jan 27, 2008
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normally i'm not an alarmist, but i thought this was important to know...

..CHICAGO (Reuters) - Half of men in the general population may be infected with human papillomavirus or HPV, the human wart virus that causes cervical and other cancers, strengthening the case for vaccinating boys against HPV, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

U.S. vaccine advisers have been weighing whether boys and young men should be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, as they already recommend for girls and young women, but some worry the vaccine is too costly to justify its use.

HPV infection is best known as the primary cause of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide. But various strains of HPV also cause anal, penile, head and neck cancers. Vaccinating men and boys would prevent some of these cancers.

Anna Giuliano of the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues studied infection rates among more than 1,100 men aged 18 to 70 in the United States, Brazil and Mexico to get a snapshot of the natural progression of HPV infection in men.

"We found that there is a high proportion of men who have genital HPV infections. At enrollment, it was 50 percent," said Giuliano, whose study appears online in the journal Lancet.

The team also found that the rate at which men acquire new HPV infections is very similar to women.

And they found that about 6 percent of men per year will get a new HPV 16 infection, the strain that is known for causing cervical cancer in women and other cancers in men.

Vaccines made by Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline both offer protection against this strain of HPV.

"The biology seems to be very similar (to women)," Giuliano said in a telephone interview.

"What is different is men seem to have high prevalence of genital HPV infections throughout their lifespans."

She said it appears that women are better able to clear an HPV infection, especially as they age, but men do not appear to have this same ability.

Vaccine experts said the study builds momentum for widespread HPV vaccination among boys.

Currently, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Gardasil vaccinations for girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26. Gardasil had sales of more than $1 billion last year.

And while doctors are free to use the vaccine in boys and men ages 9 through 26, U.S. health officials so far have declined to recommend routine vaccination for males.

"This study highlights the high incidence of HPV infection in men, which emphasizes their role in transmission of HPV to women," Dr. Anne Szarewski of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London said in a statement.

"It must surely strengthen the argument for vaccination of men, both for their own protection, and that of their partners."

In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Merck's Gardasil HPV vaccine for prevention of anal cancers in both men and women, based on studies showing Gardasil was effective in men who have sex with men, a group that has a higher incidence of anal cancer.

Anal cancer is one of the less common types of cancer, with an estimated 5,300 new U.S. cases diagnosed each year, but the incidence is increasing.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
 

Health Nurse

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Nov 24, 2004
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Hi vancity_cowboy

In Canada we know that 70% of the adult population will have at least one genital HPV infection over their lifetime. It is really common.

They believe that there could be a couple of hundred different types of HPV that can cause warts on people e.g. (hands, feet, genitals etc….)

The main thing I want to stress here is that for most people HPV is an infection that you will not notice and it will come and go with no bad affects on your body.

HPV is strongly linked with certain types of cancer, but this does not mean that everyone who gets HPV will get cancer. Rates of cancer are very low for the amount of people who get HPV.

The take home message here is:
- Warts anywhere on the body are generally treated for cosmetic reasons.
- It is important that every woman gets regular PAP tests.
- Pay attention to your body, if you notice unusual growth on your genitals or unusual symptoms in your bum or throat, get it checked out by your doctor.

Here is a link for additional information.
http://healthnurse.wordpress.com/faq-about-sexual-health/sexually-transmitted-infections-sti/hpv/

HN
www.healthnurse.wordpress.com
www.bccdc.ca
www.stiresource.com
 

InTheBum

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2004
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Hi vancity_cowboy

In Canada we know that 70% of the adult population will have at least one genital HPV infection over their lifetime. It is really common.

They believe that there could be a couple of hundred different types of HPV that can cause warts on people e.g. (hands, feet, genitals etc….)

The main thing I want to stress here is that for most people HPV is an infection that you will not notice and it will come and go with no bad affects on your body.

HPV is strongly linked with certain types of cancer, but this does not mean that everyone who gets HPV will get cancer. Rates of cancer are very low for the amount of people who get HPV.

The take home message here is:
- Warts anywhere on the body are generally treated for cosmetic reasons.
- It is important that every woman gets regular PAP tests.
- Pay attention to your body, if you notice unusual growth on your genitals or unusual symptoms in your bum or throat, get it checked out by your doctor.

Here is a link for additional information.
http://healthnurse.wordpress.com/faq-about-sexual-health/sexually-transmitted-infections-sti/hpv/

HN
www.healthnurse.wordpress.com
www.bccdc.ca
www.stiresource.com
What does unusual symptoms in the bum include?
 

Health Nurse

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Nov 24, 2004
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What does unusual symptoms in the bum include?

The type of symptoms people have described with anal warts have been things like feeling new lumps or growths, rectal bleeding or I have had some clients describe an anal itch.

The BC Cancer Agency has listed the following symptoms for anal cancer on their website.
http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/PPI/TypesofCancer/Anus/default.htm

These include;

- Bleeding from the anus often occurs and may be the first sign
- Persistent anal itching
- Discharge of mucus from the anus
- A change in bowel movements
- A sore that is on or near the anus
- Swollen lymph nodes in the groin or anal region

There are also common conditions that can cause these type of symptoms e.g. hemorrhoids.

If you experience any of these don't panic, but just visit the doctor for a check up.

HN
www.healthnurse.wordpress.com
www.bccdc.ca
www.stiresource.com
 

success13

New member
May 23, 2011
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HN,

I have read different things on the 'net about HPV. Can you please tell me... does HPV ever "go away"? I was led to believe that once you have HPV you have it forever. But then I have read that once you treat the warts and they stop coming back that its run its course and you're rid of it.

I'm sure others are curious about this too. Thanks!
 

Optimum

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Jul 28, 2009
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70% is pretty high.

I think this should be one of the mandatory things to get done like your hepatitis shots when your a child. Screw cost prohibitive thinking I pay 50% of my wage for taxes anyways.

Healthnurse am I able to get vaccinated for this here in Canada? Even at my own cost?
 

Health Nurse

Supporting Member
Nov 24, 2004
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Often HPV symptoms disappear within two years on their own, and maybe even sooner than that.

Sometimes you will develop antibodies to that virus. The antibodies will make the virus undetectable or they will stop you from having symptoms (warts) or shedding virus off the skin…..but you may still have that virus in your body. In that case you are unlikely to pass it on to someone else.

The problem with HPV is that even when you don’t have symptoms you might still pass on the virus. Without symptoms it is hard to know if you or your partner even have the virus or if you can pass it on.

Remember that most types of HPV do not cause problems. There are four types that have been connected to some kinds of cancer.

The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, is available for men but is not publicly funded so you would have to pay for it. Here is a link to a site that gives more information about warts and men and the vaccine:

http://immunizebc.ca/diseases-vaccinations/hpv/men

Let me know if that answers your questions

HN
 

lenny

girls just wanna have fu
May 20, 2004
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"Just like with women, this vaccine only works if it is given before a man gets infected with the HPV virus. It does not get rid of the HPV virus if a man is already infected. No evidence of effectiveness was observed among males who were infected with HPV virus before getting the vaccine."

http://immunizebc.ca/diseases-vaccinations/hpv/men

My apologies if these are dumb questions or have already been answered somewhere i didn't see:

Since the vaccine is ineffective in those who are already infected, would it be advisable to get tested for HPV first to see if one has the virus or not before wasting several hundred dollars on something that may not work anyway?

Is there a fee to be HPV tested?

I am a male over 50. Is it inadvisable to bother with the vaccine at this age, even if i'm tested negative?

Do men recieve the same vaccine as women?
 
Last edited:

Health Nurse

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Nov 24, 2004
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"Just like with women, this vaccine only works if it is given before a man gets infected with the HPV virus. It does not get rid of the HPV virus if a man is already infected. No evidence of effectiveness was observed among males who were infected with HPV virus before getting the vaccine."

http://immunizebc.ca/diseases-vaccinations/hpv/men

My apologies if these are dumb questions or have already been answered somewhere i didn't see:

Since the vaccine is ineffective in those who are already infected, would it be advisable to get tested for HPV first to see if one has the virus or not before wasting several hundred dollars on something that may not work anyway?

Is there a fee to be HPV tested?

I am a male over 50. Is it inadvisable to bother with the vaccine at this age, even if i'm tested negative?

Do men recieve the same vaccine as women?


Hi Lenny

Good question, it’s taken me a bit of time to get the information from a few sources.

It would make sense to get tested before getting the vaccine, the only problem is that we currently do not have a way for people to get tested or that testing does not provide a clear picture of what is happening.

One way of testing that is available is for the woman to get a HPV type test similar to a pap smear. This would tell you if that type of HPV is on the cervix. This test will only give you a piece of the puzzle because we know that HPV on the cervix is very common and that the clearance rate of this HPV is very high. So even if a bad type of HPV is detected it does not mean anything on its own as most women will get rid of it. HPV only becomes a problem for women when their body does not get rid of it. The test is only helpful with other types of information e.g. is the woman having a history of abnormal pap smears. This test will also not tell you about past HPV infections it will only tell you what is there at the moment.

This test is not covered by the medical services plan of BC and costs about $200. If someone was interested in this I would recommend that you discuss this with your health care provider as it will only be a part of the picture and it really depends on other things as well e.g. past PAP results, health history, family history etc...

Another type of test that is available is a blood antibody test for HPV. This test would show if people had past exposure to HPV. This test is currently only available to research programs and not the general public. I asked if it will be made available to the general public and the answer was probably not and the reason for this is because they found in the initial vaccine testing that even though HPV was very common that it was not common for people to have been exposed to all 4 types of HPV that the vaccine protected you against.

Given this, the thinking is that most people who have already had sex and get the vaccine will still benefit as they will get immunity from the types of HPV that they have not been exposed to and there would be no harm if you get the vaccine for the HPV type you already had. The big question is that it is unknown how much you will benefit and does the cost versus benefit work for you.

Men receive the same vaccine as the woman and it is difficult to say if cost versus benefit works for you Lenny at 50. It seems like it comes down to individual choice.

I would be interested in what other people thought about this.


Here is a link to an interview with Dr Gina Ogilvie about the HPV vaccine and sex workers.

http://healthnurse.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/hpv-vaccine-and-sex-workers/

Here is two more links for information on HPV.

http://immunizebc.ca/diseases-vaccinations/hpv (you can now ask questions or chat with a nurse online.)

http://healthnurse.wordpress.com/faq-about-sexual-health/sexually-transmitted-infections-sti/hpv/



HN
www.healthnurse.wordpress.com
www.stiresource.com
www.bccdc.ca
 
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