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. 2022 Jan 8;19(2):693.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19020693.

Cervical Screening in North Sardinia (Italy): Genotype Distribution and Prevalence of HPV among Women with ASC-US Cytology

Narcisa Muresu  1 , Giovanni Sotgiu  2 , Silvia Marras  1 , Davide Gentili  1 , Illari Sechi  1 , Andrea Cossu  1 , Arianna Dettori  3 , Roberto Enrico Pietri  4 , Luisa Paoni  4 , Maria Eugenia Ghi  4 , Maria Paola Bagella  4 , Adriano Marrazzu  4 , Antonio Cossu  5 , Antonio Genovesi  6 , Andrea Piana  1 , Laura Saderi  2
Affiliations

Cervical Screening in North Sardinia (Italy): Genotype Distribution and Prevalence of HPV among Women with ASC-US Cytology

Narcisa Muresu et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The assessment of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype dynamics could support the adoption of more tailored preventive actions against cervical cancer. The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of HPV infection, HPV genotype distribution, and the epidemiological characteristics of women with ASC-US cytology since the introduction of HPV-DNA testing in Sardinia (Italy), (March 2016-December 2020). Specimens were tested by RT-PCR for 14 high-risk HPV genotypes. A total of 1186 patients were enrolled, with a median (IQR) age of 41 (38-48) years. Of these women, 48.1% were positive for at least one HPV genotype; 311 (26.2%) women were vaccinated with a median (IQR) age of 38 (30/47) years. The percentage of prevalence of HPV-16, -31, -66, -56, and -51 was 36.3%, 18.7%, 11.9%, 11.4% and 10.7%, respectively. The highest prevalence of infection was found in women aged <41 years, and single women. Moreover, women aged >41 years (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.31-0.86; p-value: 0.01), having parity (OR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.34-0.96, p-value: 0.04), and higher educational level (OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.18-0.87; p-value: 0.02) were associated with a lower CIN2+ risk. We did not find a significant difference in terms of prevalence of HPV-16 infection between vaccinated and non-vaccinated (18.3% vs. 17.1%; p-value < 0.001). Our results support the adoption of nonavalent HPV-vaccine to prevent the most prevalent infections caused by HPV-16 and -31 genotypes and underscore the need of surveillance to implement tailored vaccination programs and preventive strategies.

Keywords: cervical carcinoma; human papillomavirus; prevention; screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
HPV-DNA positivity by age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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