Epidemiological study of HPV infection in 40693 women in Putian: a population study based on screening for high-risk HPV infection

Background: The infection rate of human papillomavirus (HPV) is high in coastal regions of China. However, the infection of high-risk genotypes of women in Putian City is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the epidemiology of high-risk HPV infection among women in Putian and provide a reference for the diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination of cervical cancer in this region. Methods: : A total of 40693 female cervical cell exfoliation samples screened for high-risk HPV at the Affiliated Hospital of Putian University from July 2020 to December 2021 were selected. DNA was extracted using a fully automatic extractor. Then, 14 high-risk genotypes of HPV were detected by polymerase chain reaction. The characteristics of HPV infection, distribution of high-risk genotypes, infection types, and TCT classification in different age groups were analysed. Results: : Of the 40693 samples, 3899 were infected with HPV, with an infection rate of 9.6%. Accordingly, HPV infection rates gradually increased with age, with statistically significant differences among age groups ( χ 2 =74.03, P <0.01). The infection rates of high-risk HPV52, HPV58, and HPV16 ranked in the top three and increased with age. Single infection was dominant (84.7%), followed by double infections (12.7%). In addition, the cervical cytological classification of 3899 HPV-positive people was as follows: NILM (88.0%), ASC-US (6.6%), ASC-H (1.4%), LSIL (3.2%), and HSIL (0.8%). The study found that the HPV16 infection rate increased with increasing severity of cervical cytology ( χ 2 trend =43.64, P <0.01), while the infection rates of HPV52 ( χ 2 trend =13.89, P <0.01) and HPV58 ( χ 2 trend =13.50, P <0.01) showed opposite trends. Conclusions: : The infection rate of female HPV high-risk screening in this region was 9.6%, mainly for single infections. In addition, HPV16, HPV52, and HPV58 were closely related to the severity of cervical cytology. When vaccinated against HPV, the nine-valent vaccine is more effective in preventing infection. Health departments and medical institutions need to strengthen regular HPV screening and science publicity for young and middle-aged women, since both are crucial for preventing cervical cancer.