The dose21:45What do I need to know about HPV and HPV vaccine?
Gilles Charette noticed for the first time that something was happening with his body when he found an anal wart during a shower.
Charette confirmed with a practicing nurse who had acquired a human papilloma infection (HPV), and quickly received topical ointment for treatment.
As a gay man in an open marriage, Charette also decided to obtain the HPV vaccine, choosing to pay from his pocket to be immunized instead of risking another HPV infection or cancer associated with HPV.
“The recommendation was for [get vaccinated]”said Charette, who is the director of the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance in Toronto.
“And I did it.”
HPV is One of the most common sexually transmitted infections In Canada and the world, and it is estimated that it is responsible for five percent of all cases of cancer worldwide.
HPV infection is more commonly associated with cervical cancer, since approximately 99 percent of all cases of cervical cancer They are connected to HPV. But experts warn that HPV is a virus that affects all sexually active people and can lead to a variety of cancers, regardless of gender.
“We tend to focus on women due to concern for cervical cancer … but in fact, men also carry and can be infected and affected by HPV,” said Professor Dr. Deborah Money at the University of the University of British Columbia (UBC). CBC host The dose.
How common is HPV?
He Canada Public Health Agency (Phac) estimates that approximately three quarters of sexually active men and women will have at least one HPV infection in their life.
“The good news is that, in fact, for most people, it is a transient infection and clarifies and disappears,” said Money, who directs the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the UBC Faculty of Medicine (Obgyn) .
While HPV infection is dangerous for women due to the risk of cervical cancer, HPV is dangerous for homosexual, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men due to concerns about genital and anal cancer.
Of the more than 100 HPV strains that exist in nature, two strains cause most cases of cancer associated with HPV, including cervical cancers, vagina, vulva, penis and anus.
However, HPV infections can also lead to throat, tongue and tonsils.
Medical experts are concerned about the impact of vaccines against HPV lost on children due to pandemian school closures. They want schools and pharmacies to intensify and guarantee that children get their HPV vaccines to protect them against cancer later in life.
Gilla Shapiro, psychologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center and a member of the Faculty of the Center for Prevenible Vaccine Diseases at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, says that mouth and throat cancer rates are increasing for men and Women in Canada, but at A at a faster rate for men.
According to the numbers of the Canadian cancer statistics panelThe masculine head and neck cancer rates were 2.7 times higher than female head and neck cancer rates in 2019, with 2024 rates that are planned to be 2.8 times higher for men versus women.
In communities of men who have sex with men, the state of HIV/AIDS is more openly discussed than if someone has had HPV, according to Charette. Because he points out that an HPV infection can be especially harmful to people who are positive HIV.
A 2020 review When observing the relationship between the state of HIV and the cancers related to HPV in sub -Saharan Africa, he found that HIV positivity is associated with a greater prevalence of HPV infection “, which will result in a greater load of related related cancers with HPV between [people living with HIV]”According to the authors.
“So certainly people living with HIV should consider HPV vaccination,” Chartte said.
Phac recommends That immunocompromised people, including people who live with HIV, receive a time dose schedule from the Gardasil-9 vaccine.
Esteem That 25 to 35 percent of Boca and Throat cancers are associated with Oral HPV infection.
He Canadian cancer society He estimates that 90 percent of people with anal cancer also have HPV infection.
HPV vaccines lead to reduced cancer rates, shows research
Experts agree that the easiest way to prevent HPV infection is through one of the Two vaccines approved by HPV: Gardasil-9 and Cervarix.
Gardasil-9, which protects against nine types of HPV, is available for men and women, between the ages of nine and 45.
Cervarix, approved for women aged nine to 45, protects against the two types of high -risk HPV that causes approximately 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer.
TO USA 2022 UU. FOUND That an earlier version of Gardasil, which protected against four HPV strains, was 90 percent effective to reduce genital warts in men, and 77.5 percent effective to reduce anal intraepithelial neoplasia in men, a precancerous condition that It causes abnormal changes to the lining line. of the anal channel.
According Research published by the Canadian Association against CancerHPV immunization before the age of 17 leads to a 90 percent reduction in the invasive risk of cervical cancer, while HPV immunization before the age of 30 leads to a 50 percent reduction in the risk of Cervical cancer.
A group of cancer experts say that Canadian national detection guidelines are outdated, which makes people diagnose later, when they are more difficult to treat.
“They are much more effective than many of the vaccines we use,” Money said.
HPV vaccines are generally offered to school -age children, ideally before the average age that begin to participate in sexual activities.
However, even people who are already sexually active can benefit from the HPV vaccine, because the probability that someone has been exposed to all types of HPV that protects the vaccine is low, is low, is low, is low, According to BC cancer.
A Health Canada spokesman confirmed that the National Immunization Advisory Committee (Nation) recommends HPV vaccines for people between nine and 26 years of age.
“[NACI] It also recommends the vaccination of individuals of 27 years and older after a consultation with a medical care provider, in consideration of risk factors that can lead to infection with human papillomavirus, “Health Canada wrote by email.
Nation estimates That absorption of the vaccine for at least one dose is higher among women than men. Approximately 77 percent of women have at least one dose of HPV vaccine according to 2023 numbers, compared to 75 percent of men.
The vaccine is free for men and women under 26, typically through school and recovery programs in each province and territory, according to the Canadian association against cancer.
However, if you are over 26 years old in most Canada parts, you will have to pay your pocket, like Chartte.
He says that the price of the HPV vaccine for those who are not eligible for free programs – $ 215 per dose in TorontoFor example, it can be prohibitive for some.
Shapiro says that there are developed programs to support the vaccination of homosexual, bisexual men and others who have sex with men, “due to the greater risk of developing certain types of cancers associated with HPV.”
Ultimately, Charette says that, although most people clear this common STIs with few problems, the high risk of oral and anal cancer should motivate men to consider HPV vaccination.
