Objective
The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and the natural course of anogenital
human papilloma virus (HPV) infections in girls prior to coitarche attending an outpatient
gynecological unit.
Study Design
Specimens were taken from the anogenital region of 114 unselected 4-15 year old girls
who were referred consecutively for various gynecological problems.
Results
Four girls were excluded because of sexual abuse. Low-risk HPV-deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) was detected in 4 girls (3.6%) and high-risk HPV DNA in 15 children (13.6%).
Two girls testing positive for HPV DNA had clinical apparent warts. After 1 year,
2 children had persistent high-risk HPV DNA, and in 1 case we found a switch from
high-risk to low-risk HPV DNA.
Conclusion
Subclinical genital low- and high-risk HPV infections are common in girls without
any history of sexual abuse or sexual activity. We found persistence of genital HPV
infection in children, which could be a reservoir for HPV-associated diseases later
in life.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 09, 2009
Accepted:
December 22,
2008
Received in revised form:
September 25,
2008
Received:
July 8,
2008
Footnotes
Cite this article as: Doerfler D, Bernhaus A, Kottmel A, et al. Human papilloma virus infection prior to coitarche. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;200:487.e1-487.e5.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
