Human Papillomavirus (hpv): the excess of oral sex can be detrimental to the health

Cunnilingus on a fresco of a brothel in Pompeii (4th century bc J.-C.)

Published the 21.10.2017 at 14h46

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ISTHPVpapillomaviruscancerorlsexecunnilingusvaccincouverture vaccine

Ah, the happy time when Colette Renard was “sucking candy” without a second thought, in his tube on The Nights of a lady. The doctors had not yet addressed the issue… now It’s done : researchers at the John Hopkins university in the United States, have undertaken to quantify the risk of infection by human papillomavirus (HPV) according to the practice of oral sex.

HPV is the sexually transmitted infection is the most frequent in the world. There are over a hundred strains of the virus, which thrives on the skin and the mucous membranes of the human. Most strains cause no symptoms or skin manifestations of benign (warts, condylomata). But a handful of them causes pre-cancerous lesions that may evolve into a cancer – of the cervix, anus, oropharynx. This is called strain-oncogene.

Cunnilingus and tobacco

Good news for these ladies : in the study of John Hopkins university, the prevalence of infections with HPV oncogene was not very high in this respect. Bad news, for all the world : among the men, on the other hand, this type of infection was much more common. And directly linked to their practice of oral sex.

“Among men who did not smoke, oral infection by a strain of the oncogene of HPV were rare,” says Dr. Amber D’souza, first author of the study, which is meant to be reassuring. “Among men, non-smokers, this type of infection was also rare, as long as they have had less than five sex partners oral. But beyond that, the risk of infection increased with the number of partners and smoking. “

Thus, men who had five or more partners had a risk of 7 % to be infected with a strain of oncogenic. If they smoke, this risk rose even at 15 %. Fortunately, such an infection does not mean that one will develop a cancer for sure. The authors believe that even in this case (which concerns 6 % of men), only 1 in 10 men will develop cancer of the oropharynx in his life.

Vaccination coverage in bern

What to think twice before embarking in an expedition on mount Venus ? Without a doubt. But what also bring water to the mill of those who would like to generalize vaccination against HPV to boys. Because there is a vaccine, recommended for girls in early life to have sex (risk of cervical cancer) and men who have sex with men up to 26 years (anal cancer). Better, it would also help to effectively protect the vaccinated individuals against cancers of the oropharynx.

In France, the generalization to the boys faces for the time being to pragmatic considerations. Not only is the vaccine expensive, but the rates of immunization coverage among girls, however, concerned in the first instance, maxes out at a very low 20 % because of the anti-vaccine and an investment rather shy of the public authorities. In the past two years, the coverage has started to rise again, tentatively. It is hoped that this study will have enough to motivate everyone.