Table 1.
Selected clinical characteristics of EBV and HPV infections across West Europe, East Europe, and East Asia
| Clinical characteristic | West Europe | East Europe | East Asia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early EBV infection | + | ++ | ++++ |
| Late EBV infection: infectious mononucleosis (IM) | ++++ | ++ | + |
| Male-to-female ratio (IM) | 1:1.5 | Not available | Not available |
| Prevalence of (hypothesized late EBV infection) multiple sclerosis (MS) (per 105) | >30 | 5–30 | <5 |
| Male-to-female ratio (MS) | 1:2 | Not available | 1:5 |
| Hypothesized early infection with EBV in males | + | ++ | ++++ |
| Hypothesized early infection with EBV in females | Rare | + | ++ |
| Hypothesized early infection with HPV in males | ++++ | ++ | + |
| Hypothesized early infection with HPV in females | +++ | ++ | +++ |
| Proportion of patients with HPV-positive OPC (%) | 66 | 30 | 10 |
| Proportion of female OPC patients who are HPV-positive (%) | 45 | 40 | 60 |
| Proportion of male OPC patients who are HPV-positive (%) | 65 | 40 | 30 |
| Male-to-female ratio | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| Socio-economic status (1950s–1960s) | ++++ | ++ | + |
| Associated chronic infections (e.g., chronic periodontitis and tuberculosis) | + | +++ | ++++ |
| Male HPV-positive OPC | ++++ | + | Rare |
| Female nasopharyngeal carcinoma | Rare | + | ++ |
| Male nasopharyngeal carcinoma | + | ++ | ++++ |
| Female non-smoking lung adenocarcinoma | + | ++ | ++++ |
| Triple-negative breast cancer | + | ++ | +++ |
EBV Epstein–Barr virus, HPV human papilloma virus, OPC oropharyngeal carcinoma