Positivity and prevalence of human papillomavirus among a large population of women in southeastern China

Objective To formulate strategies for prevention of cervical cancer, we investigated the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the age-specific distribution among female participants in southeastern China. Methods From January 2016 to July 2018, 36,871 women from Meizhou People's Hospital (Huangtang Hospital), Meizhou Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University were enrolled in this prospective study. HPV genotypes were detected using Luminex technology. Results HPV infection was observed in 18.34% of the participants, and 79.98% were infected with high-risk HPVs. The five most prevalent genotypes were HPV52 (18.18%), HPV16 (16.06%), HPV58 (11.37%), HPV53 (8.82%), and HPV39 (6.42%). The 9-valent HPV vaccine efficiently reduced the HPV infection rate by more than 10%, which is twofold the rate of other vaccines. Most HPV infections were observed in women age 40 to 49 years, and those age 30 to 59 years accounted for 79.62% of positive patients. Conclusion Our findings regarding HPV genotypes and the age-specific distribution of HPV infection in the study area will contribute to the development of cervical cancer screening programs and vaccine strategies.