Pre-vaccination seroprevalence of 15 human papillomavirus (HPV) types among women in the population-based Slovenian cervical screening program

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate seroprevalence of 11 high-risk (hr) HPV types and four low-risk (lr) HPV types among 20-64 years old Slovenian women participating in the population-based cervical cancer screening program.

Methods: Serum samples from 3259 women were tested for HPV type-specific antibodies with a multiplexed pseudovirion-based serological assay (PsV-Luminex).

Results: Seropositivity for any of the 15 HPV types was 65.7%, any of the 11 hr-HPV types 59.2%, and any of the four lr-HPV types 33.1%. Antibodies against at least one of the four vaccine HPV types (HPV 6, 11, 16, 18) were detected in 40.8% women. Among hr-HPV types, seropositivity was highest for HPV 16 (25.2%) and among lr-HPV types for HPV 6 (19.1%). Age-specific HPV16 seropositivity was highest among 30-39 years old (29.6%) and decreased with increasing age to 14.0% among 60-64 years old.

Conclusion: The lifetime sexual exposure to genital HPV types is substantial, emphasising the need for HPV vaccination.

Keywords: Cross-sectional study; HPV; Seroprevalence; Slovenia.