title: Prevalence of human papillomavirus antibodies in males and females in England.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Most studies of human papillomavirus (HPV) epidemiology have employed DNA testing, which measures current infections. Serum antibodies offer a longer-term marker of infection in individuals who seroconvert and can therefore provide additional information about the exposure of populations to HPV.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sera from a population-based sample of males and females aged 10 to 49 years, in England, were tested for type-specific HPV antibodies using a multiplexed competitive Luminex assay and previously defined cutoffs of 20, 16, 20, and 24 mMU mL for HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18, respectively. Seropositivity and geometric mean titers of seropositives were analyzed by HPV type, gender, and age. Catalytic models were developed to explore potential effects of antibody waning over time and changing risk of infection by age-cohort.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seroprevalence for HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18 was 16.4%, 5.7%, 14.7%, and 6.3%, respectively, among females and 7.6%, 2.2%, 5.0%, and 2.0%, respectively, among males. Seroprevalence in females was significantly higher than males (P < 0.001 for all types) and showed a decline in older ages that was not seen in males. There was no evidence of declining antibody titers with increasing age. Model results suggest that cohort effects mediated through changes in sexual behavior better explain the observed trend in seroprevalence than waning antibodies over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preimmunization HPV seroprevalence in England shows similar trends to reports from other developed countries. We find the lower seroprevalence in older females probably reflects changes in sexual behavior over the last few decades. This study provides baseline data to monitor the impact of the immunization programme.
authors.affiliation: HIV and STI Department, Statistics, Modelling and Bioinformatics Department, Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sarika
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jit
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borrow
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilding
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linford
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lowndes
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nardone
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pebody
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Soldan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D052140:Human papillomavirus 11 / Q000276:immunology*; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000276:immunology*; D052161:Human papillomavirus 18 / Q000276:immunology*; D052163:Human papillomavirus 6 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral