Warning:

This document is being maintained for historical purposes, but is now out of date. To view current guidelines please visit:

• STD Treatment Guidelines   at http://www.cdc.gov/STD/treatment

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1993 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines

09/24/1993

SUGGESTED CITATION
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1993 Sexually
transmitted diseases treatment guidelines. MMWR 1993;42(No. RR-14):
{inclusive page numbers}.

CIO Responsible for this publication:
National Center for Prevention Services,
Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV Prevention

Subclinical Genital HPV Infection (Without Exophytic Warts)
     
     Subclinical genital HPV infection is much more common than
exophytic warts among both men and women. Infection is often
indirectly diagnosed on the cervix by Pap smear, colposcopy, or
biopsy and on the penis, vulva, and other genital skin by the
appearance of white areas after application of acetic acid.
Acetowhitening is not a specific test for HPV infection, and
false-positive tests are common. Definitive diagnosis of HPV
infection relies on detection of viral nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) or
capsid proteins. Pap smear diagnosis of HPV generally does not
correlate well with detection of HPV DNA in cervical cells. Cell
changes attributed to HPV in the cervix are similar to those of
mild dysplasia and often regress spontaneously without treatment.
Tests for the detection of several types of HPV DNA in cells
scraped from the cervix are now widely available, but the clinical
utility of these tests for managing patients is not known.
Management decisions should not be made on the basis of HPV DNA
tests. Screening for subclinical genital HPV infection using DNA
tests or acetic acid is not recommended.

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