Prevalence and Risk Factors of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infections among Women in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Regional variations exist in HPV prevalence worldwide despite reports of high prevalence rates among African women. Limited data on genital HPV prevalence necessitated this study with the aim of determining the prevalence of genital HPV and associated risk factors among women in Lagos, Nigeria. Exfoliated cervical cells were collected with consent from 165 women using a cervical brush. Viral DNA was extracted and amplified by nested PCR using two sets of consensus primers (MY09/11 and GP5+/6+). An unconditional logistic regression model was used to identify predictors of HPV positivity. The HPV prevalence was 81.82% in all women and 87.59% in women with normal cytology. The risk of HPV infection was significantly increased among women who had a history of STI (odds ratio (OR) 3.94; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.51-10.25, p = 0.005) while there was a significantly reduced risk of HPV infection among those who used condoms (odds ratio (OR) 3.94; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18-0.91, p = 0.03). The HPV prevalence observed shows an increased transmission of the virus in Lagos, Nigeria. Therefore, there is a need for intense public awareness and the implementation of early detection tests, treatment, and vaccination to prevent an increase in cervical cancer cases in Lagos, Nigeria.

Keywords: Lagos; cytology; human papillomavirus; prevalence; risk factors.

Figure 1

Age-specific detection of HPV DNA among all participants and cytology-negative women. The highest prevalence among all women was reported in the age group of 18–24 years, while the age group of 45–54 years had the lowest prevalence. HPV prevalence was high among cytology-negative women between the ages of 25 and 34 compared to the age group of 45–54 which had the lowest prevalence of all groups.