In France, the HPV vaccine has been recommended for girls since 2007, and only since January 1, 2021 for boys. However, this virus is far from saving the latter category.
According to a study published this Wednesday in the journal Lancet Global Health and reported by The world, a third of men over the age of 15 in the world are carriers of a papillomavirus. Additionally, 21% have a type of HPV (human papillomavirus) that can cause cancer.
“Rapidly Infected”
The study was conducted between 1995 and 2022 in 35 different countries. While the numbers are comparable in men around the world, the prevalence in East and Southeast Asia is half that of other regions.
HPV prevalence in men peaks in the 25-29 age group and remains high until at least age 50, unlike in women where it declines over time. Young people aged 15 to 19 are also particularly affected by the virus, “suggesting that young men are rapidly infected after their first sexual activity,” the researchers explain.
The importance of the vaccine
Research from The Lancet sheds light on the prevalence of highly contagious and potentially oncogenic “HR” papillomaviruses, which affect one in five men. The scientists thus insist on the need to strengthen prevention against HPV, within the more global framework of the fight against sexually transmitted diseases and infections.
The study points in particular to the paucity of data on HPV in men in certain regions of the world and the importance of further research. Long associated with exclusively female problems, HPVs are increasingly being identified as a public health problem affecting the general population.
All three types of HPV vaccines target HRs, which are most frequently associated with HPV-related cancers, demonstrating the importance of including the male population in vaccination campaigns.
Among the 200 types of HPV that can be transmitted sexually, about fifteen are considered high risk, whether in men or women. Most infections are asymptomatic and cleared naturally by the body, some are persistent and can lead to cancer.
Vaccination campaign from day 5
In France, the HPV vaccine has been recommended for girls since 2007, and only since January 1, 2021 for boys. Thus, the vaccination coverage rate is only 37% for girls and 9% for boys, while the 10-year strategy for cancer control 2021-2030 aims for a target of 80% in seven years.
From the beginning of the school year in September, a vaccination campaign will be launched for students at all universities in France, targeting both girls and boys. “The vaccine is an opportunity and a remarkable advance that we must take advantage of,” he wrote this Thursday On twitter Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau.
“The deployment of HPV vaccination in young women, and increasingly in young men, is beginning to have a beneficial effect,” says the Lancet study.
In 2022, 45 countries offered to vaccinate children against the human papillomavirus.
Source: BFM TV
