Significance of findings unclear: high-risk HPV common in STD clinic study.(Gynecology)

PHILADELPHIA -- Antibodies to human papillomavirus 16, one of the cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus, were found in 30% of women and 19% of men in a study of 1,595 heterosexual patients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics in the United States, study investigator Dr. Deborah Thompson said.

The significance of the presence of antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV) is not completely understood, Dr. Thompson said at a conference on STD prevention sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"A positive blood titer for an HPV type only means exposure at some time in the past. However, not everyone exposed to the virus will develop an antibody response," she added. "Also, antibody testing is not routinely offered in a clinical setting, and right now its usefulness is for epidemiology."

Nonetheless, the study's prevalence rates are "high," Dr. Thompson said. For instance, in 2000, the CDC completed a large pilot HPV serosurvey. The survey used blood samples from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), conducted in 1988-1994, and showed that 18% of women and 8% of men in the United States have HPV-16 antibodies. Black women aged 20-29 years had the highest seroprevalence (36%).

In the current study, the population was 51% female, 28% white, 49% black, and 13% Hispanic. The age groups were 20 years or younger (16%), 20-25 years (28%), 26-35 years (31%), and 35 years and older (25%). The median number of lifetime partners was 18 for the entire study population, and the mean number of partners in the past 3 months was 2.6.

The retrospective analysis used data from participants in Project RESPECT, a national study evaluating the efficacy of HIV prevention counseling in changing ...