Work

Transmission of Human Papillomavirus in Heterosexual Couples

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: We examined the transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV) in 25 heterosexual, monogamous couples (25 men, 25 women), followed up over an average of 7.5 months.A total of 53 heterosexual transmission events were observed among 16 couples (14 male-to-female and 39 female-tomale).Sexual transmission involved 13 different oncogenic and nononcogenic HPV types; 8% were vaccine-covered types transmitted between partners.The overall rate of HPV transmission from the penis to the cervix was 4.9/100 person-months, which was substantially lower than that from the cervix to the penis (17.4/100 person-months).Transmission between the hands and genitals, as well as apparent self-inoculation events (primarily in men), were also observed.Couples who transmitted HPV were more sexually active and used condoms less frequently.These results have implications for HPV prevention and control strategies, including the targeting of prophylactic vaccines.C ervical cancer remains a major source of illness and death among women globally, and infection with oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is its principal cause (1,2).Men are assumed to be the main reservoirs of genital HPV infection for women, although comparatively little is known about the natural history of HPV in men.A limited number of cross-sectional and case-control studies have evaluated genotype-specifi c HPV concordance in male-female couples (3-7).There are, however, no empirical data on the heterosexual transmission of HPV.Our investigation evaluates the transmission of HPV in a cohort of male-female sexual partners.

Source: Emerging infectious diseases

DOI: 10.3201/eid1406.070616