Prevalence of human papillomavirus infection among women at a gynaecological clinic in Tlemcen, Algeria

Abstract

High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is recognized as the etiologic agent responsible for cervical cancer, ranking as the second most prevalent cancer among women in Algeria with an incidence rate of 10.4 per 100,000. The primary aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary prospective investigation into the detection of HR-HPV infections in Tlemcen, Algeria, where screening is exclusively based on cytology. A total of 130 cervical swabs were analysed in this study. HPV detection was performed utilizing the Cobas® 4800 test, incorporating polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for individual genotyping of HPV-16 and HPV-18, as well as pooled detection of 12 other commonly occurring HPVs. The findings revealed that out of the 130 samples, 28 tested positive for HR-HPV, resulting in a prevalence rate of 21.5%. Among these cases, five infections demonstrated the coexistence of HPV16 with other HR-HPV genotypes. The prevalence of HPV16 infections was determined to be 28.6% (8/28), whereas 68% of infections (19/28) were attributed to other HR-HPV genotypes. These observations indicate that HPV16 was not the prevailing genotype. Consequently, these results underscore the necessity for a larger-scale study with an expanded sample size encompassing cytology and HPV testing. Such an investigation would be invaluable in facilitating the development of a national prevention program to effectively control cervical cancer.