Report: More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults are infected with cancer-causing HPV

During a recent two-year period, almost 23 percent of U.S. adults ages 18 to 59 had a type of genital human papillomavirus (HPV) that put them at high risk of certain cancers, according to a recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That percentage jumped to more than 42 percent during 2013 to 2014 if any type of genital HPV was included, the CDC found. In both groups, prevalence was higher in men than in women.

“We tend to overlook the fact that 20 percent of us are carrying the virus that can cause cancer,” said Geraldine McQuillan, lead author of the report and a senior infectious-disease epidemiologist in the Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. “People really need to realize that this is a serious concern.”

These are the first data CDC has compiled on HPV rates among men. Its previous research among teen girls and women looked at far fewer strains of the virus and included a younger, narrower age range — and, perhaps because of that, found a lower prevalence of highrisk HPV.

“What we know is that cervical cancer rates have remained relatively stable, but that being said, HPV-related cancer rates have been increasing,” said Lois Ramondetta, a professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. HPV has been linked to throat, tonsil, anal, vaginal and penile cancers as well as cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine can protect people from infection.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. The CDC estimates that nearly 80 million people are infected and that about 14 million new infections occur annually among teenagers and adults. Most of these go away on their own, typically without even causing symptoms, but some HPV strains can lead to genital warts and cancer. Each year, 31,000 men and women are diagnosed with cancers caused by HPV — which, in most cases, would have been preventable with the HPV vaccine, according to the CDC.

The CDC recommends HPV vaccinations for youths ages 11 to 12 so that they are protected before potential exposure to the virus through sexual contact. Vaccination rates have been increasing, but they still lag for boys and girls.