title: Prevalence of type-specific HPV among female university students from northern Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with cervical cancer, the most frequent cancer in women from northern Brazil. Assessment of the short-term impact of HPV vaccination depends on the availability of data on the prevalence of type-specific HPV in young women in the pre-immunization period, although these data are currently unavailable for the study region. The aim of this study was to estimate the distribution of all mucosal HPV genotypes, including low- and high-risk HPV types, in unvaccinated college students from northern Brazil.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Specimens were collected from 265 university students during routine cervical cancer screening. The HPV DNA was assessed by Polymerase Chain Reaction and positive samples were genotyped by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism. Most students (85.7 %) had normal cytological results. The prevalence of HPV was 25.3 % (67/265), with a high frequency of multiple infections and non-vaccine high-risk HPV genotypes. The most prevalent type was HPV-61 (5.3 %), followed by types 82, 16, 59, and 6. Multiple infections were associated with high-risk and possibly high-risk HPVs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated a high prevalence of HPV infection in university students from northern Brazil. Vaccine high-risk types were relatively rare, emphasizing the predominance of carcinogenic genotypes that are not prevented by the currently available vaccines. Our study highlights the need to reinforce cytological screening in women from northern Brazil, and promote the early diagnosis and treatment of the precancerous lesions associated with cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Tropical Medicine (1st Floor), Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Covre
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Jeniffer do Socorro Valente
authors.initials: Jdo S
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Estéfane Primo
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Manso
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Clinical Analysis, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Renata Mendonça
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Cytology Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Mihoko Yamamoto
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Tropical Medicine (1st Floor), Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Edna Aoba Yassui
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Sergipe, Brazil.
authors.forename: Stephen Francis
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology Section, Evandro Chagas Institute, Ananindeua, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Karla Valéria Batista
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Tropical Medicine (1st Floor), Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará Brazil.
authors.forename: Maísa Silva
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: de Sousa
keywords: Genotype distribution; HPV vaccine impact; Human papillomavirus; Prevalence