Pre-vaccination prevalence and distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types in Slovenian women: a cervical cancer screening based study

Abstract

To estimate the pre-vaccination prevalence of cervical infections with 14 high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) types among 20-64 years old Slovenian women screened for cervical cancer in 2010, we consecutively enrolled 4431 women in 16 outpatient gynaecology services. All were screened with Digene Hybrid Capture 2 HPV DNA Test and Abbott Real Time High Risk HPV Test and all positive specimens genotyped. Prevalence of cervical infection with any hr-HPV type examined was 12.9% with HPV16 3.5% and with HPV18 1.0%. Age specific prevalence estimates were the highest among 20-24 years old women and decreased with age. HPV16 prevalence was lowest among women without evidence of cervical disease and increased with the severity to 41.9% in women with high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. Our results provide baseline data for monitoring the impact of Slovenian HPV vaccination program and development of future cervical cancer screening strategies in cohorts eligible for free HPV vaccination.