Are only women infected with HPV?

HPV is not limited to women, men can also be infected by it. This virus can infect any part of the skin and mucous membranes. Transmission is mainly through skin-to-skin or skin-to-mucous membrane contact. Virus particles can penetrate the skin and mucous membrane surfaces through tiny injuries and infect basal epithelial cells. Depending on the site of infection and the type of HPV infection, common warts, plantar warts or skin warts may form. Infection in the genital area leads to the formation of genital warts, mainly cauliflower-shaped condylar warts. HPV infection in the high-risk group is closely associated with precancerous lesions such as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN), vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VaIN), penile intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN). According to statistics from the Hong Kong Department of Health in 2021, there were 1,074 cases of male condyloma acuminatum, and the number of male cases was 3.3 times that of female cases. It can be seen that not only women can be infected with HPV virus, but men are also more likely to be infected with HPV virus than women, so men should not take HPV virus lightly.