Human Papillomavirus

Biography

Biography: Jasmina Vranes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of high-risk HPV (hrHPV) infection between women from two biggest Croatian counties: The City of Zagreb (CZ) and the Split-Dalmatia County (SDC), considering their age, severity of cervical lesions and distribution of the most important hrHPV types. The study included all women, who were during the eight-month period on their Gynecologist's request, tested on hrHPV infection with molecular cobas HPV Test. The examinees were divided in two age groups (<30 years and ≥30 years). No significant difference was determined in the overall prevalence of hrHPV infection between the two counties. Among 3542 cervical swabs analyzed in the CZ, 39.7% was hrHPV positive, while in the SDC the positivity rate among 1594 tested samples was 36.2%. While in the population of women aged ≥30 years no significant difference in hrHPV prevalence between two counties was observed (CZ 32.9%, SDC 34.7%), in younger women the difference in prevalence was statistically significant (CZ 52.8%, SDC 39.1%; p<0.01). Analyzing the population of hrHPV positive women, the highest prevalence of HPV16 was observed. In the CZ, further analysis showed that genotype 51 was the second most prevalent HPV type in younger women (HPV16 32% and HPV51 27%), associated with low grade cervical abnormalities. The presence of HPV16 and HPV18 in cervical samples significantly increased with the severity of cervical lesions. Significant epidemiological differences of hrHPV infection in population of adolescent and young women in two studied regions were detected.