title: Oncogenic HPV Types Infection in Adolescents and University Women from North Portugal: From Self-Sampling to Cancer Prevention.
abstract: This study aimed to characterize the HPV infection status in adolescents and young university women in Portugal. The distribution of HPV genotypes was evaluated by PCR DNA genotyping after self-sampling collection from 435 women of exfoliated cervical cells using a commercial kit. We observed an overall frequency of HPV infection of 11.5%. Furthermore, HPV DNA prevalence was 16.6% in those young women that self-declared as sexually active. The more frequently detected HPV types were 31, 16, 53, and 61. Statistical analysis identified median age (OR = 3.56; P = 0.001), the number of lifetime sexual partners (OR = 4.50; P < 0.001), and years of sexual activity (OR = 2.36; P = 0.008) as risk factors for HPV acquisition. Hence, our study revealed that oncogenic HPV infection is common in young asymptomatic women Portuguese women, with a history of 2-5 sexual partners and over 2 year of sexual activity. Moreover, these results demonstrate that HPV detection performed in self-collected samples may be important to appraise better preventive strategies and to monitorize the influence of vaccination programmes within different populations.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Road Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Jani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Fátima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cerqueira
authors.forename: Ana Luisa
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baldaque
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osório
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Medeiros