If men get a high-risk HPV infection, they could develop genital warts or cancer of the penis, anus, or throat. High-risk oral HPV types may cause warts in the mouth and throat or cancer of the throat oropharyngeal cancer.
Most cases of HPV are transmitted during vaginal intercourse, but you could potentially get it from other forms of intimate contact, like anal sex, oral sex, or intimate skin-to-skin contact involving these areas of the body. If you are sexually active, using condoms and dental dams can lower your risk of getting HPV.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. It is so common that most sexually-active men and women will get at least one type of HPV in their lifetime. HPV is a group of more than related viruses.
Each type of HPV virus is given a number. HPV types are classified as either low risk or high risk based on whether they put a person at risk for cancer. The HPV type that causes warts is low risk, meaning that it rarely develops into cancer. High-risk HPV does not cause warts, but can develop into cancer. High-risk HPV types lead to cancers not only of the cervix but also of the vulva, vagina, penis, anus and the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils. Most people clear the infection—including the high-risk types—within two years, without ever knowing they had it.
A small proportion of women have an infection that becomes persistent. Smoking increases your risk of developing a persistent HPV infection.
Smoking is also linked to a higher risk for both cervical and vulvar cancers. HPV is not transmitted through bodily fluids such as semen or saliva, but through skin-to-skin contact. Surprisingly, they found that the partners of patients with HPV-positive oral cancer were no more likely to test positive for oral HPV infection than the rest of the general population.
The researchers looked at people with HPV-positive oral cancer and 93 of their spouses or partners. The patients were predominately male as this type of cancer is more common in males and their partners were predominantly female.
But here's the thing: The researchers were only testing for HPV orally in both patients and their partners. They did not test the partners for genital HPV. That means it is possible these partners could have genital HPV that was passed along from the HPV-positive oral cancer patients via oral sex, which would not show up on their tests. Essentially, these results suggest oral-to-oral transmission of the virus through saliva kissing, sharing drinks, etc.
While this research is definitely encouraging, there are a few other limitations to be aware of. Misiukiewicz stresses that this is the first study of its kind, so more research is needed to say with certainty that HPV is not contagious via oral-to-oral contact.
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