The following is a summary of “Population-based age- and type-specific prevalence of human papillomavirus among non-vaccinated women aged 30 years and above in Germany,” published in the September 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Liang et al.

A known reason for cervical cancer is the constant high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV). At the same time, there is a lack of population-based data on the occurrence of HPV infections in Germany.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the age and type-specific prevalence of HPV, with risk factors, in unvaccinated women aged 30 and above.

They examined the MARZY study from 2005 to 2012 in Mainz and Mainz-Bingen, Germany. Eligible women were randomly selected from the population and invited for cervical cancer screening (n = 5,275). A swab (liquid-based cytology) was collected, and HPV testing was carried out with GP5+/6 + polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by genotyping and categorized HPV types as HR-HPV, moderate-risk, and low-risk (LR-HPV). Logistic regression analysis was done to determine factors linked to HPV infection.

The results showed that 2,520 women were screened with a valid PCR result. Overall HPV prevalence was 10.6% (n = 266), with 6.5% HR-HPV positive (n = 165), 1.5% ‘moderate’ risk type (n = 38), and 3.3% LR-HPV type (n = 84) positive while 8.9% had a single infection (n = 225) and 1.6% had multiple types (n = 41). The most common HR-HPV types were 16, 56, 52, and 31, and LR-HPV 90 and 42; of 187 HR-HPV infections detected (among 165 women), 55.1% (n = 103) were with HPV types not covered by available bivalent or quadrivalent HPV vaccines. About 23% (n = 43) were of types not covered by the nonavalent vaccine (HPV 35, 39, 51, 56, 59). The HR and LR-HPV prevalence was highest in the age group 30–34 years (HR 9.8%, ‘moderate’ risk 3.0%, and LR 5.6%), reducing with increasing age. HR-HPV prevalence in women with normal cytology was 5.5%. In women with a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), prevalence was 66.7%. Women currently living without a partner and smokers had increased chances of an HR-HPV infection.

They concluded that the increased prevalence of population-based HPV, with a significant portion of prevalent HR-HPV types not included in current vaccines, necessitates close monitoring, especially among older women ineligible for vaccination.

Source: bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09827-7