Human Papillomavirus Intermittence and Risk Factors Associated With First Detections and Redetections in the Ludwig-McGill Cohort Study of Adult Women

Background We assessed the incidence and risk factors for first detection and redetection with the same human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype, and prevalence of cytological lesions during HPV redetections. Methods The Ludwig-McGill cohort study followed women aged 18-60 years from Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1993-1997 for up to 10 years. Women provided cervical samples for cytology testing and HPV DNA testing at each visit. A redetection was defined as a recurring genotype-specific HPV positive result after 1 or more intervening negative visits. Predictors of genotype-specific redetection were assessed using adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with Cox regression modeling. Results In total, 2184 women contributed 2368 incident HPV genotype-specific first detections and 308 genotype-specific redetections over a median follow-up of 6.5 years. The cumulative incidence of redetection with the same genotype was 6.6% at 1 year and 14.8% at 5 years after the loss of positivity of the first detection. Neither age (aHR 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], .54-1.47 for >= 45 years vs < 25 years) nor new sexual partner acquisition (aHR 0.98; 95% CI, .70-1.35) were statistically associated with genotype-specific redetection. High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion prevalence was similar during first HPV detections (2.9%) and redetection (3.2%). Conclusions Our findings suggest many HPV redetections were likely reactivations of latent recurring infections. Incidence of redetection with the same human papillomavirus genotype was found to be substantially higher than incidence of first detection. Redetections were not associated with new sexual partners. This suggests many human papillomavirus detections could be recurring latent infections.