A Longitudinal Study of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection in a Cohort of Closely Followed Adolescent Women

Cervical cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in women worldwide. Persistent infection with a human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause for cervical cancer. Vaccination and Pap smear screening are the best methods for prevention of the disease. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the knowledge and views of upper secondary school female students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, toward prevention of cervical cancer. This study was conducted from April 2009 to September 2009 in 8 schools in Kuala Lumpur area using pre-tested and validated questionnaires. Results indicated that the respondents had low knowledge of cervical cancer and its prevention although the majority of students (80.4%) had heard about the disease. The level of knowledge of cervical cancr and its prevention was significantly higher among students from the science stream (p<0.001) compared to students from the art stream. Most students (69.3%) agreed to take the vaccination if the service was available in schools. A high percentage of students (82.2%) agreed that the vaccination should be compulsory to the students. In conclusion, most students had low knowledge of cervical cancer and its prevention but they had positive attitude toward vaccination and agreed that vaccination should be compulsory. Therefore, suitable educational programmes should be developed to improve the knowledge of secondary school students on the prevention of cervical cancer.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Views of Secondary School Students in Kuala Lumpur on Cervical Cancer and its Prevention

Rashwan

Ishak²,

Sawalludin

2013

“…HPV infection is the most common infection among young and sexually active individuals (Weaver, 2006). Rates of HPV infection are highest in adolescent females with a cumulative prevalence rate higher than 80% (Brown et al, 2005). Thus, it is necessary for young women to get protection against HPV infection at an early age.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Malaysian Medical and Pharmacy Students Towards Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Rashwan¹,

Saat²,

Manan³

2012

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections and oncogenic HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer. However, HPV vaccination is already available as the primary preventive method against cervical cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of HPV vaccination among Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) students. This study was conducted from March until August 2009. Pre-tested and validated questionnaires were filled by the third year UKM (n=156) and UM (n=149) students from medical, dentistry and pharmacy faculties. The results showed that the overall level of knowledge on HPV infection, cervical cancer and its prevention among respondents was high and the majority of them had positive attitude towards HPV vaccination. Medical students had the highest level of knowledge (p<0.05). Very few students (3.6%) had already taken the vaccine with no significant difference between the two Universities (p=0.399). In conclusion, the knowledge and attitude of the respondents were high and positive, respectively. Only few students took HPV vaccination. Thus, more awareness campaigns and HPV vaccination services should be provided at universities' campuses with the price of the HPV vaccine reduced for the students.

“…Most of these HPV infections are found to be transient and only women who harbor persistent high risk HPV infection are at risk of developing cervical lesions. High risk HPV infections (hrHPV) seem to persist longer than infections with low risk HPVs (Franco et al, 1999;Woodman et al, 2001;Guiliano et al, 2002;Richardson et al, 2003;Munoz et al, 2004;Brown et al, 2005). To effectively design cervical cancer prevention strategies, information regarding the incidence, prevalence and clearance of HPV infections in a variety of populations is needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Type-Specific Incidence and Persistence of HPV Infection among Young Women: A Prospective Study in North India

Datta¹,

Bhatla²,

Pandey³

et al. 2012

Background: Infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) are highly prevalent among sexually active young women in India. However, not much is known about the incidence of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and their patterns of persistence, especially in the Indian context. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of acquisition and persistence of HPV types in young women. Methods: Women residing in an urban slum in Delhi (n=1300) were followed for 24 months at 6 monthly intervals. Exfoliated cervical cells collected at each visit were tested for the presence of HPV DNA. Genotyping was performed using the reverse line blot assay. Results: The incidence rate for any HPV type was calculated to be 5 per 1000 women-months. Among high risk HPV types, HPV16 had the highest incidence rate followed by HPV59, HPV52 and HPV18, i.e., 3.0, 0.58, 0.41 and 0.35 women per 1000 women-months respectively. The persistence rate was higher for high-risk than low-risk HPV types. Among low-risk types, HPV42, HPV62, HPV84 and HPV89 were found to persist. Whereas almost all high risk types showed persistence, the highest rate was found in women with HPV types 16, 45, 67, 31, 51 and 59. The persistence rate for HPV16 infection was 45 per 1000 women-months. Conclusion: Incident HPV infections and high risk HPV type-specific persistence were found to be high in our study population of young married women. Understanding the patterns of HPV infection may help plan appropriate strategies for prevention programs including vaccination and screening.