Detection of genital HPV types in fingertip samples from newly sexually active female university students

Little is known about detection of genital human papilloma virus (HPV) types in women's fingertips. The study objectives were to determine the presence of genital HPV types in fingertip samples and the agreement between fingertip and genital samples for detecting HPV.

At triannual visits, genital and fingertip samples were collected from female university students and tested for 37 HPV genotypes by PCR-based assay. Type-specific concordance between paired fingertip and genital samples was evaluated using kappa statistics for percent positive agreement (kappa+). Paired samples with type-specific concordant fingertip and genital results were selected for variant characterization.

A total of 357 fingertip samples were collected from 128 women. HPV prevalence in fingertip samples was 14.3%. Although percent positive agreement between fingertips and genitals for detecting type-specific HPV was low (17.8%; kappa+ = 0.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.25), 60.4% of type-specific HPV detected in the fingertips was detected in a concurrent genital sample. All but one of 28 paired concordant samples were positive for the same type-specific variant in the fingertip and genital sample. Redetection of HPV types at the subsequent visit was more common in genital samples (73.3%) than in fingertip samples (14.5%; P < 0.001).

Detection of genital HPV types in the fingertips was not uncommon. Although impossible to distinguish between deposition of DNA from the genitals to the fingertips and true fingertip infection, the rarity of repeat detection in the fingertips suggests that deposition is more common.

Finger-genital transmission is plausible but unlikely to be a significant source of genital HPV infection.