1100National prevalence of oral HPV infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated young adults in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Background Prophylactic HPV vaccination has been recommended for the prevention of cancers caused by HPV infection. Nevertheless, may be reduce the oral HPV prevalence, the putative precursor to oral squamous cell carcinoma. This study aimed to report the prevalence of oral HPV among vaccinated and unvaccinated women and men aged 16 to 25 years who use the public health system. Methods POP-Brazil study is a cross-sectional, multicentric survey. Participants were recruited from 119 public primary care units distributed throughout all 27 capitals of Brazil. Trained health professionals applied a face-to-face interview. Oral sample was collected through mouthwash and gargle cycles. HPV genotyping was performed in a central lab using the Roche PCR-based Linear Array genotyping test. Sampling weights by sex and age were applied to the data. Results Oral HPV samples were collected from 5,684 participants; 613 (8.93%) vaccinated against HPV, in which 86.57% were women. Among women, the overall HPV prevalence was significantly lower in those vaccinated [0.43% (95% CI, 0.03-0.83)] than unvaccinated [1.65% (95% CI, 0.97– 2.33] (p < 0.01). Among men, no significant difference was found. All vaccinated individuals were negative to the HPV types present in the quadrivalent vaccine (6, 11, 16, and 18). Conclusion Vaccinated individuals had a lower prevalence of overall oral HPV besides the null infection by 6, 11, 16, and 18 HPV types showing another benefit of this cancer prevention measure. Due to the low prevalence of oral HPV, type specific analysis demand higher number of positive participants.