Is it necessary for men to be tested for HPV and get HPV vaccine?

When it comes to HPV, people generally think it is a female issue, but ignore the infection in men. In fact, HPV infection is not exclusive to women.

Scientific research data show that the overall male genital HPV infection rate is as high as 45.2%. Among them, the probability of infection with more than or equal to one high-risk HPV is 25.1%, especially in men who are sexually active and do not take protective measures. The HPV infection rate is even higher. 50% of penile cancer patients have HPV types 16 and 18 detected in their lesions.

Not only that, in recent years scientists have also detected HPV virus in semen, and studies have shown that HPV virus can also affect sperm motility, and in severe cases can cause male infertility.

HPV stands for "human papillomavirus". There are more than 200 types of HPV that have been identified so far. HPV is divided into high-risk and low-risk types based on the site of infection and whether it is carcinogenic. If men have unhealthy sexual behaviors or their foreskin is too long, the warm and moist environment of the coronal sulcus and urethra will be a breeding ground for HPV.

In addition, the incidence of HPV-related tumors in men is relatively low, and there are usually no obvious symptoms, but persistent HPV infection in men may also lead to penile cancer, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer. At the same time, HPV is a sexually transmitted virus. When a man is infected with the HPV virus, he can cause his partner to be infected through sexual intercourse. Once a woman is infected with the HPV virus, if she is not treated in time, she can easily develop cervical cancer. If the virus is transmitted to the spouse during the period of preparing for pregnancy, it will also greatly increase the risk of miscarriage during pregnancy. Therefore, male HPV infection should not be underestimated, and expectant fathers and mothers who are preparing for pregnancy should undergo HPV screening.

Li Guowei, a contracted expert in the medical field, said that HPV virus does not enter the blood, so blood samples cannot be used for examination. Currently, most hospitals still use the method of "collecting epithelial cells from suspected infected areas" to test for HPV in men. However, HPV is not easy to survive in a dry environment and the physiological structure of the male reproductive system is special, which makes sample collection difficult. In addition, the long incubation period of HPV infection leads to asymptomatic HPV infection in most men, so that HPV transmission through sex becomes silent and extremely harmful! HPV virus testing of male urethral sampling samples and semen samples can effectively avoid the above problems and detect, diagnose and treat them as early as possible.

Warm reminder: When treating HPV infection in women, you must also pay attention to HPV latent infection in their male partners. When a woman is found to be infected with HPV, her sexual partner should also go to the hospital for HPV testing in time.