Nationwide prevalence of human papillomavirus infection and viral genotype distribution in 37 cities in China

Abstract

BackgroundType-specific high-risk HPV (hrHPV) infection is related to cervical carcinogenesis. The prevalence of hrHPV infection varies geographically, which might reflect the epidemiological characteristics of cervical cancer among different populations. To establish a foundation for HPV-based screening and vaccination programs in China, we investigated the most recent HPV prevalence and genotypic distributions in different female age groups and geographical regions in China.MethodsIn 2012, a total of 120,772 liquid-based cytological samples from women enrolled for population- or employee-based cervical screening in 37 Chinese cities were obtained by the Laboratory of Molecular Infectious Diseases of Guangzhou KingMed. A total of 111,131 samples were tested by Hybrid Capture II and the other 9,641 were genotyped using the Tellgenplex™ HPV DNA Assay.ResultsThe total positive rate for hrHPV was 21.07 %, which ranged from 18.42 % (Nanchang) to 31.94 % (Haikou) and varied by region. The regions of Nanchang, Changsha, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangdong, and Guiyang could be considered the low prevalence regions. Age-specific prevalence showed a “two-peak” pattern, with the youngest age group (15–19 years) presenting the highest hrHPV infection rate (30.55 %), followed by a second peak for the 50–60-year-old group. Overall, the most prevalent genotypes were HPV16 (4.82 %) and HPV52 (4.52 %), followed by HPV58 (2.74 %). Two genotypes HPV6 (4.01 %) and HPV11 (2.29 %) were predominant in the low-risk HPV (lrHPV) type, while the mixed genotypes HPV16 + 52 and HPV52 + 58 were most common in women with multiple infections.ConclusionsThis study shows that HPV infection in China has increased to the level of an “HPV-heavy-burden” zone in certain regions, with prevalence varying significantly among different ages and regions. Data from this study represent the most current survey of the nationwide prevalence of HPV infection in China, and can serve as valuable reference to guide nationwide cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination programs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-015-0998-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Prevalence of and Associated Risk Factors for High Risk Human Papillomavirus among Sexually Active Women, Swaziland

“…According to Winer and colleagues, the actual first peak of HPV infection might be before the age of 25 years, as women are usually infected after sexual initiation [29]. HPV16 and 18 types have been found to be the most prevalent high risk types in most studies [4, 26–28, 30–32], yet in the current study we were not able to establish that. However, we observed high frequency of hr-HPV31/33/35/52/58 group types among the study population.…”

“…Studies conducted in Tanzania and Nigeria found high prevalence of HPV (20.1% and 14.7% respectively) [23, 25]. In China the prevalence of HPV infection was found to vary between regions from 13.8%–44.4% [28]. A higher prevalence of above 75% was observed in two studies conducted in Brazil [22, 26].…”

Human papillomavirus infection and associated factors for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in women living with HIV in China: a cross-sectional study

“…The five most prevalent HPV genotypes in our sample were HPV52, 58, 33, 68 and 16, similar to that in HIV- women in Guangxi province 5. And HPV 52, 58 are consistently the most prevalent HPV subtypes nationwide 6. These evidences suggest that HPV coinfection is consistently high in Chinese WLHIV and does not exhibit substantial geographical variations.…”

APOBEC-mediated genomic alterations link immunity and viral infection during human papillomavirus-driven cervical carcinogenesis

“…A more worrying trend is that cervical cancer is occurring earlier and causing death in younger age groups in some developed urban areas (43). With the increasing prevalence of HPV infection especially in young women, combined with inadequate Papanicolaou (Pap) test screening and poor uptake of HPV vaccines, cervical cancer will continue to pose a huge public health burden to mainland China (2,44). Therefore, effective prevention and control strategies need to be identified.…”