Repeated human papillomavirus DNA findings among female university students.

In a previous study, we found a high (33%) human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA prevalence among first year university students in the Helsinki metropolitan area. We have now performed HPV rescreening among first-round HPV-positive students using a liquid-based hybridization assay. A total of 212 students participated in rescreening, and 82 (38.7%) of 212 were found to be positive for HPV DNA. Low-risk (lr) HPV DNA was repeatedly found in 16.8% of the patients who had been lr positive in the first screening round. High-risk (hr) HPV DNA was repeatedly found in 33.3% of the patients. Although HPV typing in these samples has not been carried out yet, we conclude that repeatedly positive HPV DNA findings were strikingly common. hrHPV DNA was repeatedly found twice as often as lrHPV DNA. HPV DNA prevalence was higher among oral contraceptive users than among patients using other contraception.