The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers, especially those from the head and neck region, has increased. The relatively early age of presentation of HPV-positive head and neck cancer (HNC) indicates that viral infection might be acquired early in life. Persistent HPV infection has been recognized as the main risk factor for cancer development, but most studies have focused on evaluating HPV persistence in the genital region. Thus, in this work, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HPV in oral cavity and oropharynx in a young population, as well as the possible persistence of the infection after 12 months. Our results indicate that almost half (46.8%) of the analyzed population harbors an HPV infection either in the oral cavity or in the oropharynx. Furthermore, after 1 year of initial identification, half of them eliminated the infection, and only one person (5.26%) exhibited persistence. Interestingly, 50% of the individuals who successfully eliminated the infection acquired a new viral type, indicating that even when the primary infection is effectively eliminated by the immune system, there is a dynamic circulation of HR-HPV types that produce reinfection. This dynamic HPV infection among young individuals could influence the future establishment of cancer in some proportion of the cases.

人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）相关癌症的发病率，尤其是头颈部癌症的发病率有所增加。HPV 阳性头颈癌 (HNC) 的发病年龄相对较早，表明病毒感染可能是在生命早期获得的。持续的 HPV 感染已被认为是癌症发展的主要危险因素，但大多数研究都集中在评估生殖器区域的 HPV 持续性。因此，在这项工作中，我们旨在评估年轻人群口腔和口咽部 HPV 的患病率，以及 12 个月后感染可能持续存在的情况。我们的结果表明，几乎一半 (46.8%) 的分析人群在口腔或口咽部存在 HPV 感染。此外，经过1年的初步识别，其中一半人消除了感染，只有1人（5.26%）表现出持续性。有趣的是，成功消除感染的个体中有 50% 获得了新的病毒类型，这表明即使免疫系统有效消除了原发感染，HR-HPV 类型的动态循环也会产生再感染。年轻人中这种动态的 HPV 感染可能会影响某些病例未来罹患癌症。