Genital Transmission of Human Papillomavirus in Recently Formed Heterosexual Couples

Abstract

We estimated human papillomavirus (HPV) transmission rates among persons with documented sexual exposure to an infected partner. Recently formed couples enrolled in the HITCH Study (HPV Infection and Transmission among Couples through Heterosexual activity) in Montreal, Canada, and provided genital specimens for DNA testing of 36 HPV genotypes. At enrollment, 179 couples were discordant for ≥1 HPV types; transmission was observed at follow-up in 73 partnerships. There was little difference between the male-to-female (3.5 per 100 person-months, 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7-4.5) and female-to-male (4.0 per 100 person-months, 95% CI, 3.0-5.5) transmission rates. Rates did not vary with the lifetime number of partners reported by the initially uninfected partner, providing no evidence of reduced susceptibility for those with extensive sexual histories. Transmission was also relatively homogeneous across HPV genotypes and alpha species and oncogenic risk categories. The findings contribute to a small but growing evidence base regarding the natural history of HPV transmission.

Analysis of Longitudinal Multivariate Outcome Data From Couples Cohort Studies: Application to HPV Transmission Dynamics

“…Our proposed model followed the commonly used operational definition of “transmission” which is based on observed testing results. Such testing results however may be subject to misclassification: a positive result may indicate contamination from a sex partner rather than a true, established infection (Burchell et al, 2011), and a negative result may be due to an infection being in latency or having undetectable viral shedding (Gravitt, 2011). The assay cannot differentiate reactivation of a latent infection from a new infection transmitted from the partner.…”

Human Papillomavirus Infection and Transmission Among Couples Through Heterosexual Activity (HITCH) Cohort Study: Protocol Describing Design, Methods, and Research Goals (Preprint)

“…Using data from the first follow-up visit, HPV transmission rates were estimated among participants with documented sexual exposure to an infected partner in couples that were discordant on ≥1 HPV types [27]. We observed little difference between male-to-female (3.5 per 100 person-months, 95% CI: 2.7-4.5) and female-to-male transmission rates (4.0 per 100 personmonths, 95% CI: 3.0-5.5).…”

Naprotecnología: ciencia y persona en la infección por el virus del papiloma humano (VPH) en mujeres y preadolescencentes

“…La tasa de transmisión del VPH se ha visto mayor en mujeres frente a hombres (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29), y en pacientes que viven con personas infectadas del virus de la inmunodeficiencia adquirida (VIH/sida) se ha observado regresión entre el 60 % y el 80 % de las verrugas del VPH a lo largo del primer año después del diagnóstico (30).…”