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The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) among U.S. women is of particular interest, given the recent availability of an HPV vaccine. Government investigators used data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to study HPV prevalence in women 14 to 59 years old. Self-collected vaginal swabs were analyzed by PCR; up to 37 HPV types were identified.
Among 1921 usable specimens, 27% were positive for HPV. The prevalence peaked at 45% in women 20 to 24 years old (34% for ages 14 to 24) and declined to 20% in women ages 50 to 59. For the four HPV types covered by the vaccine, prevalences were 1.3% for type 6, 0.1% for type 11, 1.5% for type 16, and 0.8% for type 18 (the latter two types are considered responsible fo…