Type-specific prevalence and persistence of human papillomavirus in women in the United States who are referred for typing as a component of cervical cancer screening.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to report type-specific prevalence and persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women who underwent cytologic screening.


METHODS
We examined HPV prevalence in 73,371 women who had type-specific HPV testing in 1 of 23 clinical laboratories in the United States. Persistence was evaluated in 963 women who were tested within 8-16 months of their index test.


RESULTS
HPV was detected in 31% of the women, and high-risk HPV was detected in 23% of the women. HPV-16, -53, -52, and -31 were the most prevalent types. Of the 953 women with 2 tests, 39% of the women had persistent HPV infection. High-risk HPV persistence was detected in 34% of the women who were positive initially for high-risk HPV.


CONCLUSIONS
Approximately one-third of our sample had HPV; of those women who were retested within 8-16 months, more than one-third had persistent infection. Among women with high-risk HPV infections, the likelihood of persistence was highest with HPV genotypes that were phylogenetically similar to HPV-16.
Ralston Howe
Elizabeth
E
Maternal and Child Health Program, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Li
Zhongze
Z
McGlennen
Ronald C
RC
Hellerstedt
Wendy L
WL
Downs
Levi S
LS
D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing; D005838:Genotype; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*
D004279:DNA, Viral