ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews key epidemiologic questions about the prevalence, pathogenicity, and diagnosis of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the female genital tract. HPV can cause a variety of epithelial tissue warts. Specific HPV types and groups are associated with an attraction, or tropism, for specific epithelial tissues, including the skin, the oral cavity, and the urogenital tract. Worldwide prevalence of HPV infection is unknown. The natural history of HPV is highly variable and is likely to be subject to the influence of cofactors. Male to female and female to male transmission have been studied correlated to clinical status and infection status of the sexual partner. The association of cervical neoplasia and cervical cancer with HPV represents HPV’s greatest known health threat for women. Cervical cancer was recognized as sexually associated for many years prior to the appreciation of an HPV causal link.
