Years ago we learned that women can still contract HPV without sexual intercourse. The good news is that the HPV vaccine has caused a significant drop in cervical cancer cases for women.
But, this discovery showed a further danger for a sexually transmitted infection that can even increase heart problems for women.
If women can get the virus without sexual intercourse, what about men?
While a man with HPV cannot get cervical cancer, the virus still poses a great risk for men. While rare, the virus can still cause some dangerous symptoms. Worse, they can spread the disease to another person without even knowing of their own infection.
Studies in recent years show men who abstain from sexual activity can still be infected with the HPV.
Like with women, hand or mouth-to-genital contact can spread the virus to men. According to a November 2017 study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, men can still get the virus through oral sex, and hand-to-genital contact. These actions are called “non-penetrative sexual contact.”
Why can men still get infected with the HPV virus if they are not having sexual intercourse? If a man knows that his partner has had previous partners, he has a higher risk of getting HPV from them, even if they aren’t aware of a current HPV infection.
As stated earlier, many individuals do not know that they have HPV until they experience the symptoms. The virus can remain dormant for years after exposure before making itself known to the individual.
The only signs that men may have of HPV are genital warts. These may not reveal themselves at all, but if a man has contracted a riskier strand of the virus, the warts are likely to present themselves. The warts are visible in the groin, on the thighs, in the testicles and anus, as well as on the penis. Sometimes the genital warts are raised, while others are flat or shaped like cauliflower.
Since it is difficult to determine if your partner has HPV, prevention is the best method to avoid the virus.
And like many other common and dangerous viruses, HPV does have a vaccine. Men who have not been in any sexual encounter are most likely to benefit from the HPV vaccine as long as they are 26-years-old or younger.
The CDC recommends boys receive the vaccine at the ages of 11 or 12. Studies also suggest that when the vaccine is administered before a boy or man becomes sexually active, the vaccine not only helps to ward off the HPV, but also may protect against the development of penal cancer, anal cancer and throat cancer.
A man does not have to be sexually active to become infected with the HPV. The virus can show up in his system at any time after any kind of sexual activity. HPV is easily transmitted, and the HPV vaccine can prevent this rampant disease.
Do you have any questions about HPV or the vaccine? Passport Health can help! Give us a call at or book an appointment online.
Did you know both men and women could get HPV without sexual intercourse? Let us know in the comments, or via Facebook and Twitter.
Written for Passport Health by Sabrina Cortes. Sabrina is a freelance writer with a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgian Court University. She currently lives in the Smokey Mountains of western North Carolina.
