Human papillomavirus detection in pregnant women: a prospective matched cohort study

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Objective: To study the prevalence, incidence, and clearance of human papillomavirus (HPV) in pregnant and nonpregnant women. Methods: In this prospective matched cohort study, 51 women, became pregnant during follow-up of an HPV epidemiology study (n=2065), and 51 matched nonpregnant women were included. All women provided 3-monthly cervicovaginal self-samples and completed a questionnaire. The PCR SPF(10) LiPA(25) was used for HPV testing. Matching was performed using a propensity score. Results: The cumulative prevalence of high-risk HPV (hrHPV) was 19.6% (n=10) of the pregnant and 17.6% (n=9) of the matched control women. The time point prevalence of any type HPV and hrHPV was not significantly different for pregnant and matched control women. After baseline, there were 10 newly detected hrHPV types in 6 (11.8%) of the pregnant women, and there were 11 newly detected hrHPV types in 8 (15.7%) of the matched control women. There was no difference in HPV clearance between pregnant and matched control women. Conclusions: This study shows that in a low-parity population of young, unscreened women, pregnancy does not seem to influence HPV prevalence, incidence, and clearance.