Ten per cent of English girls have HPV by age of 16, survey shows

By the age of 16 at least 10% of girls in England have become infected with one or more strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), a major study of HPV prevalence in girls and young women has shown.

Researchers from the Health Protection Agency tested 1483 women and girls aged 10 to 29 years from across England for four strains of the virus: types 6, 11, 16, and 18. Types 6 and 11 are associated with genital warts in particular, while types 16 and 18 are thought to be causative agents in an estimated 70% of cervical cancers. Their findings are reported …