High Prevalence of Genital Tract Papillomavirus Infection in Female Adolescents

Abstract

To investigate clinical condyloma, abnormal cervical cytologic findings, and evidence of human papillomavirus infections, 89 adolescent girls were examined. Cellular DNAs extracted from exfoliated cervical cells were examined for human papillomavirus genomic sequences by Southern transfer hybridization using 32P-labeled human papillomavirus DNA probes. Human papillomavirus sequences were detected in 12 (13%) young women, abnormal cytologic specimens in 21 (24%), and vulvar condylomas in 12 (13%). The human papillomavirus types identified included HPV-6/11 (four instances), which is known to be associated with benign lesions, and HPV-16, -18, and -31 (eight instances) which are considered to have oncogenic potential. Two young women were infected with both HPV-16 and -31. Human papillomavirus sequences were found in 48% of the young women with abnormal cytologic findings and in 3% of patients with normal cytologic findings (P less than .0001). Condylomatous changes in the cervical smear were associated with the presence of HPV-6/11 and mild dysplasia with the presence of HPV-16, -18, and -31. The presence of vulvar condylomas correlated with condylomatous changes in the cervical smear and with the recovery of HPV-6/11 from the cervical epithelium. The results indicate that the prevalence of human papillomavirus infections in this population is high and that a majority of the infections are with viruses associated with lower genital tract malignancies.