By ANAHAD O’CONNORAbout one in 15 Americans is infected with oral human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that causes throat cancers, and the disease is especially common among men, new research shows.
The research is the first major study to document the nationwide prevalence of oral human papillomavirus, or HPV, a disease that has drawn growing attention from public health experts because it has fueled a rise in oropharyngeal cancers affecting the back of the tongue and the throat. Researchers showed last year that throat cancers caused by a particular strain of the virus, HPV Type 16, have tripled in the last 20 years. But it was unclear exactly how many people over all were carrying HPV, which exists in more than 40 forms. Continue reading
