Detection and genotyping of HPV DNA in a group of unvaccinated young women from Colombia: Baseline measures prior to future monitoring program

In 2012, Colombia launched human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program for girls ages 9 to 12, and in 2013, the target age was expanded to 9 to 17 years. Monitoring the changes of HPV infection prevalence among young women has been proposed as an endpoint for early assessment of HPV vaccination programs. However, the data on HPV prevalence in young ages are very limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of HPV infection and the distribution of genotypes in a group of nonvaccinated women ages 18 to 25 years old in three Colombian cities as baseline for the monitoring of the HPV national vaccination program. A total of 1,782 sexually active women were included. Cervical smear samples were collected to perform the Pap smear and HPV DNA detection using a Linear Array HPV assay. Of the 1,782 specimens analyzed, 60.3% were positive for any HPV type; 42.2% were positive for high-risk HPV (HR-HVP) types, and 44.4% for low-risk HPV (LR-HPV) types. Multiple and single infections were identified in 37.1% and 23.2% of samples, respectively. HR-HPV types -16, -52, and -51 were the most predominant with proportions of 11.3%, 7.92%, and 7.9%, correspondingly. The prevalence for HR-HPV 16/18 was 14.4%. HR-HPV prevalence in women with abnormal cytology (75.16%) was higher than in women with normal cytology (38.6%). In conclusion, a high prevalence of HR-HPV was observed among younger women. This HPV type-specific prevalence baseline may be used to monitor postvaccination longitudinal changes and to determine its impact on HPV-related disease incidence in Colombia population.