Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Schim van der Loeff and C. Quint, A. Molijn, and M. Meijer is shareholder of Self-Screen, a spinoff company from Vrije Universiteit-University Medical Center, which makes diagnostic tests for cervical cancer.
There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. Participants completed risk factor questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression analyses using generalized estimating equations GEE were performed to assess determinants for oral high-risk HPV incidence and persistence.
Baseline prevalence of high-risk HPV was 9. HIV infection and recent use of cannabis were both independently associated with high-risk HPV incidence. Over a third of HPV infections persisted over a 6-month period. Oral infection with high-risk oncogenic Human Papillomavirus HPV , in particular HPV type 16, is associated with a subset of head and neck cancers [1] β [4].
While alcohol consumption and smoking have long been known as the main risk factors for head and neck cancer [7] , emerging evidence also suggests HPV plays an important role with a rising incidence of HPV-related head and neck cancer in many parts of the world [6] , [8] , [9]. Oral HPV infection is thought to be transmitted sexually [10] β [13] , and higher prevalence has been reported among HIV-infected individuals [10] , [12].
Oral high-risk HPV prevalence in the general population is estimated to be around 3. Two prospective studies among young, mostly heterosexual male adults indicated that sexual behavior, including kissing, may be associated with oral HPV acquisition [18] , [19] , and that most infections are likely to be transient rather than persistent [19].
