Abstract
Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are at the origin of many mucosal, benign or malignant skin pathologies. Some so-called high-risk genotypes, especially types 16 and 18, are involved in the genesis of cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers in women. To determine the prevalence of HPV infections and to identify oncogenic genotypes circulating in the departments of Niari and Bouenza. A total of 207 cervical samples collected between 2019 and 2020 were studied. Cervico vaginal smears were performed on all samples for cytological analysis, and HPV DNA detection and genotyping were performed on GeneXpert. The average age of the women who participated in this study was 43.67 ± 12.31 years in Niari and 38.29 ± 10.52 in Bouenza with age intervals ranging from 18 to 80 years. Cytological analysis of these samples reported the following prevalences: Normal diagnosed in 89.58% (186/207) cases, ASCUS in 5.31% (11/207) cases, LSIL in 2.89% (6/207) cases, and ICC in 1.93% (4/207) cases. The prevalence of HPV infection was detected in 83.54% (66/186) of women without lesions, 6.32% (5/11) of ASCUS women and 10.12% (8/10) of women with cytological abnormalities [5.06% (4/6) LSIL, and 5.06% (4/4) ICC]. In total, 79 of the 207 women in our study tested positive for one or more HPV-HR types, or 38.16%. In the department of Niari 37.5% (48/128) women tested positive for HPV, and in the department of Bouenza 39.24% (31/79) tested positive for HPV. Multiple infections ranged from two to more than three strains of HPV. No statistically significant association was observed between socio-demographic characteristics and genotyping (p > 0.05). On the other hand, HPV-HR prevalence varied significantly according to cervical cytology (p = 0.001). The results obtained show the predominance of HPV 16 in women in these two departments of Congo.
Highlights
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women in developing countries
The main local risk factors related to Human papillomaviruses (HPV) infection studied in women in these departments were: age, age of first sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners and gestures, taking oral contraceptives, smoking
The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence of HPV infections in two departments of the Congo, and to identify the oncogenic genotypes according to cytological status
Summary
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women in developing countries. Persistent infection with certain oncogenic papillomavirus (HPV) types is firmly established as the necessary cause of most precancerous and cancerous epithelial lesions of the cervix and a variable fraction of neoplastic lesions of the vulva, vagina, anus, penis and oropharynx [4]. These HPV infections are among the most prevalent in the world [5], with a global incidence of more than 30 million new cases per year. HPV infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted viral infections [6]
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