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Summary: Women Twice as Likely
to be Infected with HPV in Summer
Study conducted in Holland over a 16 year period found that women
are about twice as likely to be infected with HPV during the summer
months. Over the entire span of the study, evidence of infection was
about twice as frequent from May through August.
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The American Association for Cancer Research
reports that an analysis conducted over a period of 16 years in
Holland found that women are about twice as likely to be infected
with HPV during the longer, sunnier days of summer than the shorter,
colder days of winter. Scientists suggested explanation for this
finding is that suppressed immunity is triggered by a specific band
of ultraviolet rays found in sunlight. The results of the study also
showed that the highest average monthly rate for both HPV infection
and sunlight availability each occurred during the month of August
for every year of the study. Over the entire span and during each
year of the study, pathological evidence of infection was about
twice as frequent from May through August, falling off abruptly
every September. Dr. Hrushesky, who participated in the study,
stated that these results should generate future work to determine
if sunlight exposure is a meaningful worldwide risk factor for the
initiation and progression of cervical cancer.1
1Increasing
the Risk of Cancer,
American Association for Cancer Research, March 27-31, 2004, pp.
2-3.
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