Signs of the cancer-causing human papilloma virus in women near or at menopause may be a reawakened dormant infection, suggesting a risk for women who came of age in the “sexual revolution” in the 1960s and 70s.
About 77 percent of the infections were detected in women who reported five or more sexual partners in their lifetime, according to a study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The findings released today suggest that reactivation of the sexually transmitted virus may increase around age 50 and be responsible for more later-life infections than new ones, researchers said.
The data raises a new concern for women now entering menopause, suggesting a significantly higher risk for HPV infections than those of the previous generation, researchers said. The findings may mean that women need to continue routine screening after age 40, said Patti Gravitt, one of the study authors.
“If we confirm this, we may want to re-evaluate our screening strategies and confirm they’re sufficient,” said Gravitt, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a telephone interview. “If populations change their sexual behaviors, that will contribute to how we see age-specific HPV prevalence.”
HPV is found in about a quarter of teenage girls and about half of women 20 to 24, according to a 2007 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. There isn’t a good test for men. Previous studies have found that the virus isn’t detected in samples after about two years. Read full article.
