Do you really understand HPV?

In recent months, news about HPV has frequently been trending on the Internet, and each time it has attracted a lot of attention and discussion. I believe that many people are no longer unfamiliar with HPV, but when communicating with some friends around me, I found that many people still have a vague understanding of HPV, and are not very familiar with what it is, how it is transmitted, and how to prevent it.

That being the case, today, let’s talk about the HPV virus.

01. What is HPV?

We all know that this virus is called HPV, but what do these three letters mean? I believe many people are still not very clear. HPV is the abbreviation of Human Papilloma Virus, which is translated into Chinese as human papillomavirus.

(HPV structure, source WIKI)

After explaining the basic knowledge, let’s now share some little-known HPV facts that many people may not be familiar with , to help everyone understand it more correctly.

02. Cool facts about HPV

Interesting fact 1: HPV infects a wide range of areas and may cause a variety of diseases.

HPV is an epithelial virus with a high epithelial tropism[1]. In layman's terms, HPV mainly infects epithelial tissues, such as our skin and mucous membranes[1]. You will realize that epithelial tissue is the basic tissue of our human body, so the sites of HPV infection should also be very wide. That's right, HPV may infect the oral cavity, throat, penis skin, vulva, anus, vagina, cervix and rectum[1][2]. Different types of HPV infection can cause different diseases. Persistent infection with high-risk HPV can cause precancerous lesions in the cervix, vagina, vulva, anus, penis, head and neck, and the lesions can eventually develop into invasive cancer[1]. Low-risk HPV can cause diseases such as genital warts (condyloma acuminatum)[1].

Interesting fact 2: HPV is widely transmitted.

So, how is HPV transmitted? It is generally believed that HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual intercourse[1]. Regardless of the type of sexual intercourse, mucous membrane contact may cause HPV transmission[1], which is also the most common route of HPV transmission. A study on HPV infection and transmission in rural areas of Anyang City, Henan Province[3, d] showed that the transmission rates of high-risk and low-risk HPV from men to women were 12.13 and 4.77 (/1000 people per month), respectively, and the transmission rates of high-risk and low-risk HPV from women to men were 2.37 and 17.01 (/1000 people per month), respectively. There is another way of transmission that is easily overlooked, that is, skin-mucous membrane contact[1]. For example, after the hands come into contact with HPV-contaminated items, the virus may be brought into the reproductive organs when going to the toilet or bathing. Or if HPV-contaminated bath towels, underwear, etc. are not disinfected in time and come into contact with the reproductive organs, they may also be infected[4].

Little-known fact 3: HPV infection may be more common than we think.

The diverse transmission routes of HPV have also made HPV infection a widespread phenomenon. For example, a study based on the American population showed [5,a] that among people with at least one heterosexual partner, the average probability of HPV infection in their lifetime was 84.6% for women and 91.3% for men.

I believe that after reading this, you have also gained some new understanding of HPV. I hope everyone can pay attention to HPV and understand HPV with a scientific attitude to protect the health of themselves and their families.

References:

1. Expert consensus on immune prevention of human papillomavirus-related diseases such as cervical cancer. Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2019

2.Qiao Youlin. Current status of epidemiological research on human papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer in Chinese women and prospects for vaccine prevention. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology. 2007

3. Liu M, et al. Transmission of genital human papillomavirus infection in couples: a population-based cohort study in rural China. Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 23;5:10986. doi: 10.1038/srep10986. PMID: 26204471; PMCID: PMC4512147.

d. Study design: A population-based esophageal cancer cohort study (AECCS) conducted in rural Anyang City, Henan Province, China from 2007 to 2009. Nine villages in rural Anyang City were selected as target villages based on the cluster sampling method. This study used a subcohort, which included three of the nine target villages. The main purpose of the study was to evaluate the HPV-positive consistency rate, transmission rate, and related risk factors in the couple population. The subjects were rural Chinese couples aged 25-65 years, with a sample size of 874 pairs, and the study duration was from 2009 to 2013. The HPV transmission factors evaluated in this study included the average age of the subjects, the average number of sexual partners, the frequency of sexual intercourse per week, as well as the education level, type of work, and persistent HPV infection.

The main results of the study showed that the transmission rates of high-risk and low-risk HPV from men to women were 12.13 and 4.77 (/1000 people per month), and the transmission rates of high-risk and low-risk HPV from women to men were 2.37 and 17.01 (/1000 people per month). Among high-risk HPV, the risk of transmission from men to women is significantly higher than that from women to men. Among low-risk HPV, the risk of transmission from men to women is significantly lower than that from women to men.

4. Comprehensive Prevention and Control Guidelines for Cervical Cancer (2nd Edition). Wang Linhong, Zhao Gengli. Chinese Preventive Medicine Association. People's Medical Publishing House, June 2023

5. Chesson HW, Dunne EF, Hariri S, et al. The estimated lifetime probability of acquiring human papillomavirus in the United States. Sex Transm Dis. 2014; 41(11):660–664.

a. Study design: To understand the probability of HPV infection, the probability of HPV infection was estimated for two age groups: from first sexual intercourse to 44 years old; and from 45 to 70 years old. The probability of HPV infection in the first age group was studied based on the number of sexual partners until the age of 44 and the HPV infection status of sexual partners, and the HPV infection rate in the second age group was calculated using the estimated value of the HPV infection probability per year. People who had no opposite-sex partner before the age of 44 were excluded from the study.

If you want to learn more about the disease, please consult a healthcare professional.

This content is supported by Merck China 11-2025-CN-HPV-01326

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