HPV cervical infections and serological status in vaccinated and unvaccinated women

Abstract

Understanding genital infections by Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) remains a major public health issue, especially in countries where vaccine uptake is low. We investigate HPV prevalence and antibody status in 150 women (ages 18 to 25) in Montpellier, France. At inclusion and one month later, cervical swabs, blood samples and questionnaires (for demographics and behavioural variables) were collected. Oncogenic, non-vaccine genotypes HPV51, HPV66, HPV53, and HPV52 were the most frequently detected viral genotypes overall. Vaccination status, which was well-balanced in the cohort, showed the strongest (protective) eect against HPV infections, with an associated odds ratio for alphapapillomavirus detection of 0.45 (95% condence interval: [0.22;0.58]). We also identied signicant eects of age, number of partners, body mass index, and contraception status on HPV detection and on coinfections. Type-specic IgG serological status was also largely explained by the vaccination status. IgM seropositivity was best explained by HPV detection at inclusion only. Finally, we identify a strong signicant eect of vaccination on genotype prevalence, with a striking under-representation of HPV51 in vaccinated women. Variations in HPV prevalence correlate with key demographic and behavioural variables. The cross-protective eect of the vaccine against HPV51 merits further investigation.

Cytokine response following perturbation of the cervicovaginal milieu during HPV genital infection

“…The protocols used for HPV detection and genotyping rely on the DEIA and LiPa25 tests as described previously. [13] The presence of chlamydia infection was tested by PCR following the STI detection center standard procedures. Diagnosis for BV, and urinary tract, fungal, or genital infections were performed by the clinician or mid-wife during the gynecological visit.…”

“…For HPV testing and genotyping, we also used data from the second visit, a month later, to define more robust infection patterns and rule out transient HPV carriage, as detailed in an earlier study. [13]…”

“…Clinical and demographic information of the cohort has been described previously. [13] For the subset of participants in this analysis the median age was 21 years (interquartile range: 21-23 years), and 5…”

Increased risk of fungal infection detection in women using menstrual cups vs. tampons: a cross-sectional study

“…Antibodies were analysed according to methods from Waterboer et al [14] and already partly analysed in Murall et al [15] in the context of HPV infection.…”

Potential Effects of Human Papillomavirus Type Substitution, Superinfection Exclusion and Latency on the Efficacy of the Current L1 Prophylactic Vaccines

“…As discussed, HPVs of the genital mucosa can represent a dynamic meta-community which changes over time with respect to many factors such as age, promiscuity and type of contraception used which means it is difficult to predict outcomes. In this regard, it is notable that the French PAP-CLEAR trial [83] has some of the improvements suggested herein and the first results of this are now available as a preprint [84]. Limitations of this study are its small size (149 participants), with no possibility of stratification with respect to pathology/cytology.…”