I read in an Atlantic piece that there was a "sex recession" [1] - many sociological studies show that people are having less sex than decades prior. It's counter-intuitive, but the data in the article meets my anecdotal observation (and I don't even live in the US). Assuming both articles are somewhat accurate the correlation would pull in opposite directions.

[1] Why Are Young People Having Less Sex (The Atlantic, December 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex...)

It may "pull" in the opposite direction but the spread of HPV is actually on the rise and we have a cancer epidemic for young people: throat cancer and anal cancer in particular. Prostate and ovarian cancer seem to still mostly hit people in their 50s and beyond (also most often related to HPV).

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/discoveries/an-epidemic-ignites....

Anybody who is able to get the HPV vaccine should get it. I’m too old, unfortunately.

Both men and women can be vaccinated against HPV, but that's still not popular enough.

Infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most important risk factor for anal cancer. Most squamous cell anal cancers are linked to infection with HPV. HPV is a group of more than 150 related viruses, the same group of viruses that causes cervical cancer, as well as other kinds of cancer. In fact, women with a history of cervical cancer (or pre-cancer) have an increased risk of anal cancer.

Kind of wild that the linked article fails to mention STIs and HPV.

Didn't HPV vaccines cut HPV prevalence by an order of magnitude, at this point in everyone under 30 years old?

IIRC in america women can get it free through insurance, but men have to pay out of pocket if they want it, and it's expensive.

Hasn't been my experience. My son got it as a matter of routine and my private (employer) insurance paid it.

I have never heard of this. If you have more information this would be a potential lawsuit. However, vaccination is known to be ineffective over the age of 25 for preventing the most commonly associated HPVs with cancer (subtypes 16, 18, etc) because of the high likelihood it has already embedded into the body by an older age, and a vaccine does not retroactively remove that HPV.

It was definitely a thing, much harder to get insurance to pay for it for guys. Maybe it changed in the US, but it looks like Canada for example still discriminates based on gender: https://immunizebc.ca/hpv

In the US, years ago, it was possible to get if you were a guy between 18-25 but you really had to demand it and confirm/claim a low number of sexual partners. Not sure if that's still the case, hopefully not.

They definitely cut the prevalence of the subtypes they vaccinate for. the previously high-hitters for cancer (16, 18) are effectively reduced by a rate of something like 80% from vaccination. However other subtypes that the vaccine doesnt block could be behind the ongoing rise in cancer along with the unvaccinated.

That said -- I have yet to see statistics that show that the spread of HPV is down overall particularly for subtypes associated with cancer. That would be wonderful to see, but google/the CDC does not readily show such data to me, I'd have to keep digging

Now we do know that something like 91% of anal cancer (not colorectal) and 70% of throat cancer is HPV related according to the CDC. And unfortunately both throat cancer and anal cancer are in fact on the rise for all age groups and there is a hidden epidemic where young people are now getting it.

This to me would imply the possibility that the HPV vaccination is not effective currently -- either due to a lack of vaccination across previous generations or because of cancerous subtypes not covered by any vaccine.

https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/oralcav.html https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/anus.html

Prostate cancer is also seeking an uptick in young people https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/prost.html

HPV isn't really linked with cancer in men though.

Yes it is. Google "hpv penile cancer".

When I said, "isn't really" I meant "is hardly." Penile cancer is incredibly rare, I don't think HPV would be an explanation for colorectal cancer rising in the entire population, which is mostly what I was referring to. It seems to be gay men in which HPV eventually becomes colorectal cancer. Not to mention we now have a vaccine. So there has to be something else.

Point taken. I was reacting to your post as stated because it's often said that HPV is not a cancer risk for men. You're correct that it wouldn't explain a general rise in colorectal cancer across the board.

That has nothing to do with rectal cancer, except in gay men. Think about why HPV and the penis might be related for a second.

There is no shortage of links between HPV and anal cancer, throat cancer, prostate cancer, all affecting males.

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/basic_info/index.htm

"Percentage probably caused by any HPV types" https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/statistics/cases.htm

91% of anal cancer 63% of penis cancer 70% of oropharyngeal cancer

It's a highly contagious virus that is hard to prevent, unfortunately. But education and awareness would be good even if the vast majority of the population will get some form of HPV. The vaccines are effective against the previously most common cancer causing strains, however additional strains not yet covered by vaccination are on the rise.

Some recent studies suggest that even HPV-infected individuals benefit from the HPV vaccine, decreasing the likelihood of symptomatic illness. The age of eligibility in many countries has been raised to 45. Here in Canada I know it is being given to particularly high risk individuals with boosters in some clinics.

But it's expensive. And only covered for teenagers and young adults here, otherwise about $400.