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According to a study released Monday, the majority of US adults are unaware that the most common sexually transmitted disease, HPV or human papillomavirus, can lead to various types of cancer.
"More than 70% do not know that HPV is causing cancers of the anus, penis and mouth," said Ashish Deshmukh, author of the new study and assistant professor at the UTHealth School of Public Health Houston.
He described as shocking the big gap in public awareness and explained that it was one of the reasons why national vaccination rates against HPV were so low.
For the study, Deshmukh and his colleagues analyzed data from the National Cancer Institute of 6,261 men and women surveyed about their knowledge of HPV in 2017 and 2018. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 101 years old.
Two-thirds of women aged 18 to 26 understood that HPV can cause cancer of the cervix, compared to only one-third of men of the same age.
But it has also been shown that HPV was responsible for cancers of the mouth, anus and penis, a fact lost in 80% of men and 75% of women in the same group of men. Age in the study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Overall, 70% of adults of all ages did not know the connection between HPV and other cancers.
The first HPV vaccine was recommended in 2006 for girls only to prevent cervical cancer. But since then, science has shown that men are also at risk for HPV-related cancers, as well as diseases such as genital warts. Boys were not added to the HPV vaccine recommendation schedule until 2011.
"Because of this time frame, there is a historical perception that HPV is a disease that only affects women, that it only causes cervical cancer," Deshmukh said. at NBC News.
Currently, the CDC recommends that all people under 26 years of age receive the HPV vaccine at approximately age 9, well before exposure to the virus, which is spread through sexual contact.
Children need two injections six months apart; Adolescents and young adults over the age of 15 need three doses. Unvaccinated persons under the age of 45 may also receive the vaccines based on the personal risks of HPV.
At the national level, HPV vaccination rates are just under 50%, with a notable lag in coverage rates for boys.
According to the CDC, approximately 44% of boys receive the vaccine, compared to 53% of girls.
The researchers hypothesized that if there was a lack of knowledge, more parents would vaccinate their children.
The new study showed that more than half of adults aged 27 to 45 years were unaware of the link between HPV and penile, oral and anus cancers.
"The low levels of knowledge about HPV among these older age groups are of particular concern because they are (or will likely be) the parents responsible for making decisions about HPV vaccination for their children." said Kalyani Sonawane, assistant professor at the University of Texas. Public Health, wrote in a press release.
A study published last week showed another possible benefit of HPV vaccination: collective immunity. The researchers found that when girls and young women are vaccinated, young men who have not received the vaccine can be protected against HPV-related cancers.
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