High prevalence of human papillomaviruses in Ghanaian pregnant women.
Data about the prevalence of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in African women with normal and abnormal cervical cytology are still scarce. Current HPV vaccines contain HPV types, which mainly represent the HPV epidemiology of industrial countries. As further developments of HPV vaccines are going on, it is necessary to regard regional differences in HPV type prevalence to ensure optimal protection by the vaccine. Vaginal swabs of Ghanaian pregnant women, routinely collected before delivery to rule out bacterial infections causing early onset sepsis, were screened for 12 high-risk (HR), 13 probably/possibly (pHR), and 18 low-risk (LR) HPV types. Most pregnant women come for delivery to the hospital. This was considered as appropriate possibility to have an unselected group of women. HPV DNA were detected in 55/165 women (33.3, 95 % CI 26.3-41.1 %). Thirty-four out of fifty-five (61.8, 95 % CI 47.7-74.3 %) of HPV-positive women were infected with HR and/or pHR HPV types. The five most prevalent HR or pHR HPV types were HPV-52 and HPV-67 (7 women each, 4.2, 95 % CI 1.9-8.9 %), HPV-53 (six women, 3.6, 95 % CI 1.5-8.1 %), HPV-45 (five women, 3.0, 95 % CI 1.1-7.3 %), and HPV-18 (four women, 2.4, 95 % CI 0.8-6.5 %), respectively. HPV-16 was found in two women only (1.2, 95 % CI 0.2-4.8 %). Future HPV vaccine research may devote special interest to HPV-67 and HPV-53 provided further studies confirm their high prevalence in the general population of Sub-Saharan African countries. The true carcinogenic potential of HPV-67, which is a member of species alpha9 including HPV-16, and so far categorized as pHR, should be clarified.
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Göttingen International Health Network, University Medical Centre, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075, Göttingen, Germany. schulze.marco@med.uni-goettingen.de.
Marco H
MH
Schulze
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Göttingen International Health Network, University Medical Centre, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
Fabian M
FM
Völker
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Göttingen International Health Network, University Medical Centre, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
Raimond
R
Lugert
St. Martin de Porres Hospital, P. O. Box 06, Eikwe, Ghana.
Paul
P
Cooper
Institute of Virology and National Reference Centre for Papilloma- and Polyomaviruses, University of Cologne, Fürst-Pückler-Strasse 56, 50935, Cologne, Germany.
Kai
K
Hasenclever
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Göttingen International Health Network, University Medical Centre, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
Uwe
U
Groß
Institute of Virology and National Reference Centre for Papilloma- and Polyomaviruses, University of Cologne, Fürst-Pückler-Strasse 56, 50935, Cologne, Germany.
Herbert
H
Pfister
Institute of Virology and National Reference Centre for Papilloma- and Polyomaviruses, University of Cologne, Fürst-Pückler-Strasse 56, 50935, Cologne, Germany.
Steffi
S
Silling
D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D058889:Molecular Typing; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014626:Vaginal Smears
High-risk HPV; Human papillomavirus; Nonavalent HPV vaccine; Pregnant; Sub-Saharan Africa; Vaginal swab