title: High risk human papillomavirus persistence among HIV-infected young women in South Africa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Persistence of infection with high-risk Human papillomaviruses (HR-HPV) increases the risk of incident and progressive precancerous lesions of the cervix. Rates of HR-HPV persistence have been shown to be increased among HIV-infected adult women, however there is a paucity of literature addressing HPV persistence in the young HIV-infected population. We compared rates of HR-HPV persistence between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected young women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained self-collected vaginal swabs at six-month intervals from 50 HIV-uninfected and 33 HIV-infected young women recruited through a community youth center (age 17-21 years) and compared rates of HR-HPV persistence. HR-HPV testing was conducted using the Roche's Linear Array® HPV Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-three prevalent (upon baseline testing) and incident (upon subsequent testing) individual HR-HPV infections were identified among 43 members of the cohort (23 HIV-uninfected and 20 HIV-infected). At twelve months, 19% of baseline HR-HPV infections continued to be present with a statistically significant difference between HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected participants (4% versus 31%; p=0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIV-infected young women in our cohort had a seven-fold increased rate of persistence of HR-HPV overall at 12 months, indicating an increased risk for incident and progressive precancerous lesions. Identification of persistent infection with HR-HPV may complement cytological findings in determining the need for colposcopy.
authors.affiliation: 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 655, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14534 USA. Electronic address: david_adler@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.affiliation: Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Diseases & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: Melissa.Wallace@hiv-research.org.za.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Diseases & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: Thola.Bennie@hiv-research.org.za.
authors.forename: Thola
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bennie
authors.affiliation: 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 655, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14534 USA. Electronic address: beau_abar@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: Beau
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abar
authors.affiliation: 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 655, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14534 USA. Electronic address: rokhsanna_sadeghi@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: Rokhsanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases & Molecular Medicine and Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: tracy.meiring@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meiring
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectious Diseases & Molecular Medicine and Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: anna-lise.williamson@uct.ac.za.
authors.forename: Anna-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Diseases & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: linda-gail.bekker@hiv-research.org.za.
authors.forename: Linda-Gail
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Bekker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HIV; Human papillomavirus; South Africa; persistence