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Persistence and clearance of oral human papillomavirus infections: A prospective population‐based cohort study
Author(s) -
Wong Martin C. S.,
Vlantis Alexander C.,
Liang Miaoyin,
Wong Po Yee,
Ho Wendy C. S.,
Boon Siaw S.,
Leung Colette,
Chan Paul K. S.,
Chen Zigui
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.26130
Subject(s) - persistence (discontinuity) , virology , cohort , prospective cohort study , human papillomavirus , population , medicine , cohort study , biology , environmental health , geotechnical engineering , engineering
Objective This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of and factors associated with persistence and clearance of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Method A prospective cohort study invited 458 subjects (231 HPV‐positive and 227 HPV‐negative at baseline) to attend follow‐ups at 12 months. Those 231 HPV‐positive subjects and 10 new infections were invited to reassessment at 24 months. We used next‐gen sequencing for detection and genotyping of HPV. Results α‐HPV infections showed higher persistence rates than β/γ‐HPV (22.7% vs 9.2% at 12 months [ P < .05], 10.6% vs 6.8% at 24 months [ P = .30]). Clearance rates of α‐HPV were lower than β/γ‐HPV at 12 months (31.8% vs 45.1%; P = .05) and higher at 24 months (7.6% vs 4.8%; P = .36). Persistence of β/γ‐HPV was positively associated with males (crude odds ratio [COR] = 3.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3‐11.2), elderly (51‐65 vs 16‐50 years; COR = 5.1, 95% CI = 1.2‐22.3), and smoking (COR = 4.3, 95% CI = 1.9‐9.6). Drinking (COR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3‐0.9), handwashing less than 90% of times before meals (COR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.3‐0.9), and using public bath more than once per month (COR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.2‐0.9) were risk factors hindering β/γ‐HPV clearance. Conclusions This study identified factors associated with persistence and clearance of oral HPV infections among Chinese. Studies on other ethnogeographic groups may further inform prevention strategies of oral HPV infection and immunization programmes.