Seroprevalence of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 in Children

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 191; no. 11; pp. 1817 - 1819
• Main Authors: Dunne, Eileen F., Karem, Kevin L., Sternberg, Maya R., Stone, Katherine M., Unger, Elizabeth R., Reeves, William C., Markowitz, Lauri E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The University of Chicago Press 01.06.2005; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Age; Age Factors; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Cervical cancer; Child; Child nutrition; Continental Population Groups; Ethnic Groups; Female; Genitalia; Human papillomavirus 16; Humans; Infections; Male; Papillomaviridae - immunology; Papillomavirus Infections - epidemiology; Papillomavirus Infections - ethnology; Rural Population; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Sexually transmitted diseases; Socioeconomic Factors; United States - epidemiology; Urban Population; Viruses; United States; USA
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/430274

We evaluated the prevalence of antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 in a representative sample of children 6–11 years of age in the United States. Serum samples and questionnaire data were collected between 1991 and 1994, for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. HPV-16–specific immunoglobulin G antibodies were detected by an HPV-16 L1 virus-like particle–based enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. Overall, 2.4% of 1316 children 6–11 years of age were seropositive. Seroprevalence was higher in boys than in girls (3.5% vs. 1.2%; P=.08) and in children >7 years of age than in children ⩽7 years of age (3.3% vs. 0.4%; P<.05). None of the variables tested for, including race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and urban or rural residence, were significantly associated with HPV-16 seropositivity. To explain HPV-16 seropositivity in this population, further study is required