Sexually Active Younger Women Are At Higher Risk For Infection With Human Papi...( e years the women responded atsix-m...)

e years, the women responded at six-month intervals to questionnaires on lifestyle and sexual behavior. At the same visits, samples of cells from the cervix and vagina were taken to ascertain whether or not HPV was present and to determine the type, or strain, of HPV. If the same type of HPV was present during two consecutive visits, the infection was defined as persistent. The average duration of HPV infection was eight months.

The cumulative incidence of HPV infection in the women who were HPV-negative at baseline was 43 percent. The investigators noted, however, that this incidence decreased with time: it was 20 percent in the first 12 months; 14 percent in the second 12 months; and only 9 percent in the final 12 months.

"The encouraging news," says Dr. Hitchcock, "is that this study suggests that the body's response to infection plays an important role in limiting persistence of the virus and disease progression. If this is mediated by the immune response, it could indicate that development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines would play an important role in prevention and control."

Higher risk and incidence of HPV infection are associated with younger age, ethnic minority subgroups, increased frequency of alcohol consumption, anal sex or a high frequency of vaginal sex. A woman was less likely to have an HPV infection last for six months if it had been her first infection. The longer an infection endured from previous visits, the more likely it was to persist.

One of the consequences of HPV infection is the presence of various types of abnormal cells. One such type, squamous intraepithelial lesion, a potentially pre-cancerous condition, is caused by HPV infection of cervical cells, and is usually first detected as an abnormal Pap smear.

The authors caution that because of the six-month interval between medical visits, the study results may underestimate the incide
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Contact: Cheryl Parrott
cparrott@nih.gov
301-402-1663
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
11-Feb-1998

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