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What Men Need To Know About Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

by T.O. Lawrence
11/16/2007

The Centers for Disease Control estimate that the Human papillomavirus (or HPV, as its commonly known) affects at least 50 percent of the population at some point in their lives, and causes cervical, anal and penile cancer, as well as genital warts. And, according to Erich Sturgis of the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, it is now being linked to cancer of the throat and mouth. This is a STD which can affect both men and women, is often asymptomatic, and usually develops when people are most sexually active.

Unfortunately, it is also a disease about which many students are underinformed. Due to its virtual invisibility and difficulty in being detected, it remains off the radar to many sexually active students.

“I think there is a complete lack of knowledge and education on this disease,” said Kyle Dietz, health educator at the University Health Center. “It’s been a major issue for several years but I don’t think it has received nearly adequate attention.”

Commonly, students will become aware of the disease only after contracting it or when it affects someone close to them. According to Dietz, this can often lead to confusion and fear which could easily have been be avoided with proper education and improved communication.

“I actually learned about HPV from my gynecologist when I was 18,” said University of Georgia student Aisha Khan, “otherwise I probably wouldn’t know about it to begin with.”

The first thing that many students may not know about HPV is how to identify it. Though HPV generally remains invisible to carriers, it lives within mucous membranes and sometimes produces genital warts which may be detected visually. HPV can also form pre-cancerous legions which are generally invisible to the eye but can be identified with a pap smear.

For men, however, there is no test for detecting asymptomatic HPV. Pap tests can be used for those engaging in anal sex and screening tests may detect early signs of cancer, but neither of these methods is highly recommended, according to the CDC.

As a result, many men carry the disease without ever knowing, engaging in high-risk behaviors that can threaten not only themselves but their partners as well. Such high risk behaviors include: having multiple sexual partners, unprotected sex, or the use of intravenous drugs.

Condoms may help to protect against infection, but are in no way a sure thing, as the virus can be spread around the covered areas. Dental dams help in preventing oral contraction of the disease while Guardasil, an HPV vaccine developed for young women between the ages of 9 and 26 can protect against several forms of HPV. But the vaccine is recommended for those not yet sexually active, is currently unavailable for men and costs $156 for each of the three doses.

“As a first line of defense, students should be educated about HPV,” said Dietz, “Second, they should be honest. This means telling your partner if you have it and getting tested immediately if you think that you might.”

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