HPV on the Rise

In April 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an update on the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and variants of the virus may cause various types of cancer.

The CDC report provides the most recent national estimates of oral HPV prevalence among adults aged 18 to 69 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014, as well as prevalence of genital HPV among adults aged 18 to 59 from NHANES 2013-2014.

During the years from 2011-2014, the prevalence of any oral HPV for adults aged 18 to 69 was 7.3%, and the prevalence of high-risk HPV was 4.0%. Prevalence of any and high-risk oral HPV was lowest among non-Hispanic Asian adults, and oral HPV was highest among non-Hispanic black adults. The prevalence of any and high-risk oral HPV was higher in men than women except for high-risk HPV among Asian adults.

Prevalence of any genital HPV for men aged 18 to 59 was 45.2% and high-risk genital HPV infection for men aged 18 to 59 was 25.1% during 2013—2014. During 2013-2014, prevalence of any genital HPV for women aged 18 and 59 was 39.9% and high-risk genital HPV infection for men aged 18 to 59 was 20.4%.

As the prevalence of HPV in the population continues to rise, the incidence of HPV-related cancers also is expected to rise. The CDC report is available here.