Del Mistro A, Rossi PG, Frayle H, et al. - Women with a transient high-risk HPV infection were examined for the 5-year risk of high-grade lesions. In this population-based cohort study, researchers included data of 1,230 Italian women (1,027 aged 25-64 years and 203 aged 35-64 years) enrolled in seven pilot projects and attending the second round. Women with a transient HPV infection, in higher proportions, had HPV positivity (15% vs 3.7%) and had CIN2+ lesions (0.87% vs 0.23%) in round two when compared with HPV-negative women. Most of these (7/10) lesions were CIN2; cancers were not detected, and 3/1230 (0.24%) were CIN3. Long intervals for HPV-negative women were allowed with HPV-based protocols for cervical cancer screening; monitoring of the clinical outcome in women with transient high-risk HPV infection is significant. The sample had CIN3 detection similar to that observed in routine European cytology-based screening programs (CIN3+: 2.7‰); although 5-year intervals may provide reasonable protection, no recommendation for longer intervals was made.