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Women with one HPV infection at risk for infection with another serotype
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Women in Finland and Uganda who have one serotype of human papillomavirus infection may be at increased risk for another serotype, according to a speaker today at the 14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases in Miami.
Proscovia Bazanya Namujju, of the National Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland, presented the results.
The aim of the study was to determine the occurrence of single and multiple HPV types among 2,780 Finnish women and 1,964 Ugandan women. Lab analysis was conducted for HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33 and 45.
“Single HPV infection occurred in 44% of Finnish women and 57% of the women in Uganda,” Namujju said. “Infection with more than one type occurred in 22% of Finnish women and 30% of Ugandan women.”
Among women in Finland who acquired infection with one or more HPV serotypes, 23% were smokers. In Uganda, 7% of women with HPV also had HIV. No women in the study population in Finland had HIV.
“The key risk factor we observed was that if a woman was seropositive for one type of HPV infection, the risk for having another type was higher,” Namujju said. “For example, if a Finnish woman had HPV type 16, her risk for type 18 was 6.7, with a range of 4.3 to 10.5. If a Ugandan woman had HPV type 45, her risk for having type 18 was 3.4, with a range of 2.3 to 5.0.”
Screening for certain serotypes may affect risk factors for other serotypes, according to Namujju. “In Finland, 50 years of cervical screening for other serotypes may have given selective advantage to HPV 18 and 45,” she said. – by Rob Volansky
For more information:
- Namujju PB. #40.008. Risk of being seropositive for multiple HPV types among Finnish and Ugandan women. Presented at: 14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases; March 9-12, 2010; Miami.