Natural History of Cervicovaginal Papillomavirus Infection in Young Women
Open accessAbstract
Background Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is highly prevalent in sexually active young women. However, precise risk factors for HPV infection and its incidence and duration are not well known. Methods We followed 608 college women at six-month intervals for three years. At each visit, we collected information about lifestyle and sexual behavior and obtained cervicovaginal-lavage samples for the detection of HPV DNA by polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot hybridization. Pap smears were obtained annually. Results The cumulative 36-month incidence of HPV infection was 43 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 36 to 49 percent). An increased risk of HPV infection was significantly associated with younger age, Hispanic ethnicity, black race, an increased number of vaginal-sex partners, high frequencies of vaginal sex and alcohol consumption, anal sex, and certain characteristics of partners (regular partners having an increased number of lifetime partners and not being in school). The median duration of new infections was 8 months (95 percent confidence interval, 7 to 10 months). The persistence of HPV for > or =6 months was related to older age, types of HPV associated with cervical cancer, and infection with multiple types of HPV but not with smoking. The risk of an abnormal Pap smear increased with persistent HPV infection, particularly with high-risk types (relative risk, 37.2; 95 percent confidence interval, 14.6 to 94.8). Conclusions The incidence of H…
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Cervical HPV infection is common and typically clears or becomes latent within two years, but a subset of infections persists.
“While cervical HPV infection is common and typically clears or becomes latent within two years, a subset of infections persists [6, 7].”
From HPV Screening in Women Living with HIV (WLHIV) in Karnataka, India: Can it be Integrated into ART Centres? (2025) · cites this paper as [7]
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- Authors
- Ho, G. Y. F., Bierman, R., Beardsley, L., Chang, C. J., & Burk, R. D.
- Affiliations
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Venue
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Published
- 1998-02-12
- Volume
- 338
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 423-428
- ISSN
- 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-4406
- OpenAlex
- W2331157589
- Cited by
- 2,329
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 55 · 2018: 51 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 55 · 2015: 85 · 2014: 81 · 2013: 109 · 2012: 121
- FWCI
- 60.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01ai031055-08)
- National Cancer Institute (CA‐13330, P30CA013330)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI31055)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Cervical Cancer and HPV Research
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Reproductive tract infections research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Genital Health and Disease
- Keywords
- human papillomavirus, persistent HPV infection, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, abnormal Pap smear, young women, female university students, sexual risk factors, multiple HPV types, cervical cancer risk, anal sex, alcohol consumption, Hispanic origin
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Uterine Cervical Diseases, Uterine Cervical Dysplasia, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Female, Humans, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Partners, Tumor Virus Infections, Vaginal Diseases, Incidence, Papillomaviridae, Papillomavirus Infections
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