Fig. 2.

The number of participants per HPV category in the CAPRISA 004 cohort (N = 737). HPV outcomes were classified into three overlapping categories where any HPV type could have simultaneously been acquired (Acquired Any HPV), cleared (i.e. eliminated or kept latent; Cleared Any HPV), or persisted (Persisted Any HPV). Additionally, eight mutually exclusive categories were defined: [Category 1] women who remained HPV negative (n = 108), or converted [Category 2] from HPV positive to HPV negative status (only cleared; n = 130) between visits, [Category 3] from HPV negative to HPV positive (only acquired; n = 85), or [Category 4] only retained the same HPV types between visits (only persisted; n = 33); or women who had a more mixed natural history whereby they [Category 5] cleared some HPV types while others persisted (n = 61), [Category 6] cleared some and acquired new types (n = 178), [Category 7] acquired some and some persisted (n = 34), or [Category 8] cleared some, acquired some, and some persisted (n = 108). Percentages reflect the frequency of observations among overlapping definitions (N = 737), and mutually exclusive definitions (N = 737)