[Detection and typing by molecular biology of human papillomavirus in genital samples]

Recently, there has been a marked increase in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and the etiological relationship between some HPV genotypes and genital cancer has been confirmed. Therefore, we used current molecular biology techniques to evaluate the prevalence of these viruses and their genotype in genital samples. We processed 401 genital samples from 281 women and 120 men, all with a diagnosis compatible with HPV infection. Virus was detected using PCR, and positive samples were typed using an array technique which enabled us to detect the 35 most common types of mucous-associated HPV. Of the 401 patients studied, 185 (46.1%) were positive, and only one type of HPV was detected in 133 cases. We found that 41.6% of the women and 56.7% of the men were positive. A total of 260 HPVs were typed; 154 were high oncogenic risk. They infected 16 men (23.5%) and 88 women (75.2%). The difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Type 6 HPV was the most frequently detected en 64 cases, followed by HVP 16 in 52 cases. We found a 46% prevalence of HPV infection. More than half of these patients were infected by high-risk HPV. The presence of high-risk HPV was significantly higher in women.