Prevalence of human papillomavirus in tonsil brushings and gargles in cancer-free patients: The SPLIT study

HPV infection is infrequent in tonsil brushings of cancer-free children and adults. In contrast, HPV infection in gargles in adults is rather common. Low agreement in paired tonsil brushings and gargles suggests that gargle is not representative of HPV prevalence in the tonsil.