Abstract
BackgroundDespite high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer in Indian women, no study has been done in tribal populations whose socio-sexual lifestyle is different. Therefore, HPV screening has been carried out in pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adult tribal girls using self-collected urine samples.Methods20–35 ml self-collected midstream urine samples were obtained from a total of 2278 healthy tribal girls (9–25 years) comprising pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adults from three Indian states: Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. β-globin positive 2034 samples were employed for HPV detection and genotyping.ResultsThe overall prevalence of HPV infection in tribal girls was 12.9% (262/2034). More than 65% (172/262) of them were infected with HR-HPV types of which HPV16 was the most predominant type (54%). Young adult girls aged 18–25 years showed a significantly higher prevalence of HPV infection (19.2%; OR = 3.36; 95% CI 2.97–6.34, P<0.001) as compared to that in adolescent (11.4%; OR = 1.82; 95% CI 1.20–2.76, P<0.01) or pre-adolescent girls (6.6%).ConclusionThis is a first study showing significantly a very high prevalence of HPV infection in adolescent and young adult tribal girls possibly due to different socio-sexual behavior, indicating a serious health concern for Indian tribal women.
Highlights
Infection with specific types of high risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs) is proved to be the principal etiologic agent for the development of cervical cancer which is the most predominant cancer in Indian women
More than 65% (172/262) of them were infected with HR-HPV types of which HPV16 was the most predominant type (54%)
Young adult girls aged 18–25 years showed a significantly higher prevalence of HPV infection (19.2%; OR = 3.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.97–6.34, P
Summary
Infection with specific types of high risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs) is proved to be the principal etiologic agent for the development of cervical cancer which is the most predominant cancer in Indian women. Several well known risk factors such as early age of sexual intercourse, poor genital hygiene, multiple sexual partners, multiple pregnancies, high parity are associated with the development of cervical cancer [1,2,3]. More than 80% of Indian women with cervical cancer harbor HR-HPV types 16 and 18 [4,5,6,7]. Despite high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer in Indian women, no study has been done in tribal populations whose socio-sexual lifestyle is different. HPV screening has been carried out in pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adult tribal girls using self-collected urine samples.
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