Human papillomavirus type-specific prevalence in women referred for colposcopic examination in Beijing

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with several disorders of the genital tract, skin, and oropharynx. This study investigated the prevalence of infection by 37 HPV genotypes among women of the Beijing area in China. Cervical specimens from 1,082 patients and 165 healthy controls were tested for HPV genotypes using a chip hybridization assay. Based on the local pathology, patients were divided into cervicitis and cervical lesion groups. Overall HPV infection rates were 30.5% for the cervicitis group and 78.4% for the cervical lesion group; whereas infection rates for high-risk HPV types (i.e., those associated with cervical cancers) were 24.0% and 73.4%, respectively. The most common HPV genotypes were HPV 52, 16, 81, 58, and 18 in healthy controls, HPV 52, 61, 55, 16, and 53 in those with cervicitis, HPV 52, 16, 33, 39, and 58 in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1, HPV 16, 58, 31, 52, and 33 in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or grade 3, and HPV 16, 33, 18, 52, and 58 in cervical cancer. Established high-risk HPV showed two peaks, in patients aged 30-34 and 55-79 years. In Beijing, HPV 16, 52, 58, and 33 are the most prevalent HPV types in women with cervical lesions, which should affect development of a cervical cancer vaccination for local use.