Distribution and Prevalence of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Genotypes in Cervical Specimens

Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is frequently a sexually transmitted virus and can cause cervical cancer in women. Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer among the developing countries. In this study, cervical HPV DNA positivity and genotype distributions were investigated in female patients living in our region and the results were compared with different studies. Materials and Methods: Between 1 July, 2017 and 1 March, 2019, 433 cervical swabs were sent to Ataturk University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Medical Microbiology Laboratory due to suspicion of HPV. Swab samples were evaluated for HPV virus using molecular (Polymerase Chain Reaction-PCR) methods. For this purpose, Xpert HPV Test (Cepheid, Inc, Sunnyvale, CA) was used to identify HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66 and 68 t in a single sample. Results: Mean age of the patients ranged from 20 to 69 years, with a mean of 39.8 years (+/- 10.0). Positivity was detected in 62 of the 433 patients. Mean age of the positive patients was 40.2 years (+/- 11.3). When the positive patients were examined in terms of HPV types, the presence of HPV 16 was observed with a rate of 25.6%, while the HPV 18/45 types were found to be 9.0% in total. When patients were evaluated according to age groups, HPV DNA positivity was highest in the 25-34 age group with 38.7%. In our statistical study, there was no significant difference in HPV DNA positivity rate between the ages of 35 and under 35 years. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the prevalence and viral genotype distribution of HPV infection in women in Erzurum region. HPV type 16 is seen with a high rate in our region.