title: Prevalence of high-risk human papilloma virus types and cervical smear abnormalities in female sex workers in Chandigarh, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in developing nations. Nearly 90% of the cases have been linked to the presence of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) types 16 and 18. The risk of cervical cancer may be high in female sex workers (FSWs) due to multiple sexual partners. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cytological abnormalities and hrHPV types 16 and 18 in FSWs in Chandigarh, North India using the liquid-based cytology (LBC) approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cervical brush samples were collected from 120 FSW and 98 age-matched healthy controls (HCs). These were subjected to pap smear using conventional method, LBC and the detection of hrHPV types 16 and 18 was carried out using polymerase chain reaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The LBC samples showed better cytological details and also reduced the number of unsatisfactory smears from 11% in Pap to 1.5% in the LBC. A significantly higher number of inflammatory smears were reported in FSWs (51.7% vs. 34.7%, P = 0.01). The hrHPV types 16/18 were detected in 33/120 (27.5%) FSW versus 23/98 (23.5%) HCs. The risk of acquiring hrHPV was higher in FSWs, who had age at first sex ≤25 years, higher income and the habit of smoking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of hrHPV among FSWs and HCs suggests the need for the implementation of effective National Screening Programme for early detection of hrHPV types to decrease the burden of cervical cancer, especially in high-risk population.
authors: Department of Virology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: M P
authors: MP
authors: Singh
authors: School of Public, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Kaur
authors: Department of Cytology and Gynecological Pathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Gupta
authors: Department of Virology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Kumar
authors: Department of Virology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Goyal
authors: Department of Virology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Sharma
authors: Department of Virology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Majumdar
authors: School of Public, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Gupta
authors: Department of Virology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors: R K
authors: RK
authors: Ratho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D060386:Sex Workers; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D055815:Young Adult