Incidence, clearance and predictors of human papillomavirus infection in women.

BACKGROUND: Persistent infection with carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) is linked to high-grade lesions and cervical cancer. To better understand the natural history of HPV, we sought to determine the rates of incident and cleared carcinogenic HPV infection, by age, among women aged 15-49 years and to explore risk factors for incident infection. METHODS: Women enrolled in an earlier HPV prevalence survey (500 of 800 who were HPV-negative …