HPV diversity suggests value of all gay men receiving Gardasil

by Michael Carter for aidsmap

Investigators from the United States are suggesting that there is a case for all HIV-positive gay men (indeed all gay men, regardless of their HIV infection status) to receive the Gardasil vaccine against the cancer-causing strains of human papilloma virus (HPV).

In research presented to the recent International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney, doctors from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Northwestern University in Illinois found that 41% of HIV-positive gay men were infected with HPV strains 16 and 18, which are implicated in 70% of cases of anal cancer and are covered by the recently-approved Gardasil HPV vaccine.

Given the prevalence of HPV-16 and -18 infection, the investigators nevertheless believe that mass HPV vaccination of gay men would be justified and could prevent many cases of anal cancer in gay men.

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