Human papillomavirus (HPV) is linked to nearly 38,000 cancer cases annually in the U.S., predominantly cervical and throat cancers. Recent studies now indicate that HPV may also elevate the risk of cardiovascular diseases. An examination of seven research studies encompassing around 250,000 people revealed that individuals with HPV were 33 percent more likely to develop heart disease than those without the virus.

Stephen Akinfenwa, a resident in internal medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and a primary researcher in the study, expressed interest in investigating if the HPV vaccine, known to prevent up to 90 percent of cervical cancers, might also mitigate heart disease risks.

Since 2006, the vaccine has been recommended for adolescents and guards against nine HPV strains, including those most likely to cause cervical cancer and other strains that lead to genital warts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that boys and girls should get a two-dose series of the HPV vaccine at ages 11 or 12 as part of their standard immunizations. If the first dose is administered between ages 15 and 26, a three-dose series is recommended. The vaccine offers the most protection when administered before individuals begin sexual activity.

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The effectiveness of the HPV vaccine is evident. Since its introduction, the rate of cervical cancer deaths among women under 25, who were the first to be eligible for vaccination, plummeted by 65 percent from 2012 to 2019.

Discovering a potential link between HPV and heart disease is promising, especially since HPV is a preventable infection, says Akinfenwa. “This is potentially great news,” he noted. “We’re optimistic that the vaccine can be a significant preventive tool.”

Akinfenwa and his team presented a summary of their findings at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting in March. The full study, which has not yet undergone peer review, included research spanning from 2011 to 2024 and tracked women from three to 17 years.

The most extensive study reviewed was conducted by South Korean researchers in 2024. It followed generally healthy women who were tested for 13 high-risk HPV strains as part of a routine cervical cancer screening. These women had health evaluations every one to two years over an average of 8.6 years. The study found that women infected with high-risk HPV were nearly four times more likely to develop blocked arteries or die from heart disease, even though such events were rare in this group, who averaged 40 years old.

Men are also vulnerable, Akinfenwa points out. A 2017 study of patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancers, where 75 percent of the subjects were male, found that HPV-positive individuals had a higher incidence of strokes than those without the virus.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., affecting over 90 percent of sexually active men and more than 80 percent of women at some point in their lives. High-risk strains of the virus are responsible for the majority of cervical, throat, vaginal, vulva, anus, and penis cancers.

Vaccine hesitancy and a lack of awareness about HPV continue to prevent many parents from immunizing their children against the virus. Research indicates that some parents hesitate because they believe their children won’t be sexually active as teenagers. Currently, only 61 percent of adolescents are fully vaccinated against HPV.

Though there is no specific study yet that analyzes the impact of HPV vaccination on heart disease, the association between the virus and cardiovascular issues suggests that vaccination is advisable, Akinfenwa asserts.

Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who focuses on emerging infectious diseases and was not involved in the study, believes that the vaccine might prevent heart disease cases related to the virus or at least the nine strains included in the vaccine.

Other experts like Mark Einstein, chair of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at Montefiore Einstein, remain cautious. He notes that further research is needed before definitively linking HPV to heart disease. “Associations between common diseases can sometimes be misinterpreted as causation due to statistical nuances,” he explains.

A Chronic Inflammatory Concern

Experts are still unclear on how HPV may heighten the risk of heart disease, and it’s unlikely the virus directly infects the heart or blood vessels, states C. Noel Bairey Merz, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, who was not involved in the study.

Kevin Ault, a professor at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, explains that HPV typically causes cancer in areas that make direct contact with the virus during sexual activity and does not usually affect distant organs like the lungs or liver. “We generally don’t consider HPV as a virus that circulates throughout the body,” Ault remarks. “It primarily infects the skin or mucous membranes.”

Merz suggests that HPV likely increases heart disease risk by causing inflammation, a response by the immune system to combat the virus. Chronic inflammation can aggravate blood vessels and lead to the buildup and rupture of fatty plaques, which may result in a heart attack or stroke.

While the immune system usually clears most HPV infections within a couple of years, some infections become chronic, heightening the risk of cervical cancer, notes Rebecca Perkins, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the Woman, Mother and Baby Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center.

Even when HPV is under control, it doesn’t leave the body. Similar to the chicken pox virus, HPV can remain dormant for years and reactivate later, causing women to test positive during cervical cancer screenings, explains Perkins.

The studies analyzed typically used results from a single HPV test, included in most routine cervical cancer screenings, whether alone or with a Pap smear, according to Akinfenwa. A positive result cannot distinguish between a recent infection, a reactivation of the virus, or a chronic infection.

The Impact of Infections on Cardiac Health

Numerous pathogens can cause heart disease, notes Adalja. Various viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi can trigger myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, which can weaken the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. These include viruses that cause influenza and COVID-19. Moreover, untreated strep throat and scarlet fever, caused by Streptococcus bacteria, can lead to rheumatic fever, which may damage heart valves and result in heart failure.

“Many infectious diseases initiate inflammatory responses that can precipitate cardiovascular and neurological events like heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes,” Adalja states. “By preventing these infections through vaccination—against agents like influenza, varicella-zoster virus, and potentially HPV—such events can be prevented or their likelihood reduced.”

Unexpected benefits from vaccines are not uncommon, according to Adalja. For instance, studies indicate that the shingles vaccine also lowers the risk of dementia, possibly by reducing inflammation linked to the condition. The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis has also been found to decrease the risk of various other diseases where the immune system malfunctions, including type 1 diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, a 2024 analysis found that meningitis vaccines reduced the incidence of gonorrhea by 30 to 59 percent, likely because the bacteria causing gonorrhea and meningitis are closely related.

To better understand how HPV affects the heart and whether the HPV vaccine could offer protection, Merz suggests comparing rates of chronic inflammation between vaccinated and unvaccinated adolescents. “It makes sense that preventing HPV infection through vaccination would reduce cardiovascular disease risk,” Akinfenwa concludes. “However, this hypothesis still needs to be tested.”