Pilot study investigating the prevalence of oral Human Papilloma Viral (HPV) infection in young adults

The rates of HPV related Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) within the UK have been steadily increasing, particular in young white men. The reasons behind this increase have not been elucidated, but maybe linked to higher prevalence of oral HPV infection in men. This pilot study aimed to establish a reproducible HPV oral screening method to investigate the rate of oral HPV infection in young healthy adults. The study found that 4% (3 men and 2 women)of the study cohort (N = 124) had a detectable oral HPV infection, which was found to be comparable with US based investigations. An interesting finding of this pilot study was that 80% of the HPV infected individuals smoked, and one of the HPV infected females had received the HPV vaccination. This preliminary data highlights the need for further investigation into the rates of oral HPV infection in the healthy community and to determine what particular lifestyle choices could be risk factors for infection and how the HPV vaccination programme will affect HPV infectivity levels in both women and men