title: Prevalence of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in Vanuatu.
abstract: To provide information on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and the distribution of individual HPV types in Pacific Islands, we conducted a population-based survey in Vanuatu, South Pacific. Nine hundred and eighty-seven women between 18 and 64 years of age were included. GP5(+)/6(+)-mediated PCR assay was used for HPV testing. The prevalence of 44 HPV types was 28.4% corresponding to an age (world)-standardized prevalence of 25.0% [95% confidence interval (CI), 21.9%-28.0%]. The prevalence of high-risk (HR) HPV types was 21.7% (age-standardized prevalence of 19.2%; 95% CI, 16.4%-22.0%). Among 840 women with adequate cytologic results, 13.6% showed cervical abnormalities, including 3.6% with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and 0.8% with invasive cervical carcinoma. HPV prevalence declined from 46.1% in women aged ≤21 to 15.3% in those ≥45 years. Being single was significantly associated with HPV positivity. HR HPV findings by PCR assay and hybrid capture 2 (HC2; conducted in Vanuatu) were moderately correlated (κ test = 0.59). The positive predictive values of HR HPV positivity for HSIL or worse were 27.6% for PCR and 35.2% for HC2 among women aged ≥30. Nearly half of screening-positive women could not be reevaluated mainly on account of the difficulty to trace back women. The availability of a rapid HPV testing method that allows see-and-treat approaches at the same visit would be, therefore, essential. On account of their high cumulative burden of cervical lesions, also women older than 40 years should be included in at least the first screening round in unscreened populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu.
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aruhuri
authors.forename: Len
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tarivonda
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tenet
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Peter J F
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Snijders
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McAdam
authors.forename: Chris J L M
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.forename: Ian H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Frazer
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franceschi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D009514:Vanuatu / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral