High frequency of human papillomavirus detection in the vagina before first vaginal intercourse among females enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract

Background: Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is believed to be primarily sexually transmitted. Few studies have documented the detection of HPV in the vagina before first vaginal intercourse.

Methods: We used a longitudinally followed cohort of adolescent females without prior vaginal intercourse to examine the frequency of detection of vaginal HPV and the association between first reported HPV detection and noncoital sexual behaviors.

Results: HPV was detected in 45.5% of subjects (10 of 22) before first vaginal sex. Seven of these 10 subjects reported noncoital behaviors that, in part, might have explained genital transmission.

Conclusions: HPV can be detected in the vagina before first sexual intercourse, highlighting the need for early vaccination.

Figure 1.

Scatterplots of age at first vaginal sex and age at first detection of high-risk and low-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types (A) and time between first vaginal sex and first detection of high-risk and low-risk HPV types (B) for 21 females. Data for 1 subject were excluded because first vaginal sex never occurred during the study.