Human papillomavirus infection in pregnant women

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. It has been established that about 70% of the sexually active population are exposed to this infection. The HPV prevalence rate among pregnant women ranges from 5.5 to 65.0%. Studies on HPV infection in pregnant women have yielded inconsistent results, including HPV prevalence, and HPV clearance.

Our aim is to determine the prevalence of HPV infection in pregnant women, to identify the types of the virus, and to evaluate the changes of prevalence of HPV infection depending on the trimester of pregnancy in Lithuania.

Two hundred and thirteen pregnant women who were attending centres of the central outpatient clinic of Vilnius city (Lithuania) in 2008-2010 were studied. These women were examined for HPV infection and its type by polymerase chain reaction. Tests were performed on the first and third trimesters. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS17 and Excel software.

At the beginning of the pregnancy (first trimester of pregnancy), HPV infection was detected in 17.8% of the pregnant women (38 from 213); high oncogenic risk HPV types were identified for 52.6% of the HPV-positive pregnant women. At the end of the pregnancy (third trimester of pregnancy), HPV was identified in 10.3% of the pregnant women (15 out of 146); high-risk HPV types were identified for 66.7%.

Our study shows the high prevalence of HPV infection in pregnant women in Lithuania. The majority of pregnant women's HPV infection was cleared during the pregnancy. Only in a few cases a new HPV infection was detected.