Prevalence and Genotype Distribution of HPV Infection Among 16,516 Women in Chaohu, China: a Retrospective Study

Prevalence and genotype distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among 16,516 women in Chaohu City from May 2023 to May 2025 were not well established. A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical situations and laboratory data of 16,516 women tested for HPV. It might provide valuable information for the epidemiological characteristics of regional differences in infection rate and dominant genotype of HPV.

A total of 16,516 women from outpatients, inpatients, and physical examinations were randomly selected from May 2023 to May 2025. Exfoliated cells from the cervical orifice were collected with a cervical cytobrush and HPV genotypes were detected. Data of all tests were acquired from the hospital's laboratory information system, and statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 27.0 software.

Among 16,516 women, 3,608 were positive and the positive rate was 21.85%. High-risk genotype infection and single infection were respectively more than low-risk genotype infection and multiple infection (p < 0.05). The highest positive rate of HPV infection was found in the ≥ 20 age group, and the ≥ 60 and 51 - 60 age groups had higher positive rate. The positive rate was not significantly different among each age group (p > 0.05). Among 23 genotypes, HPV 52, 53, and 58 were the most common genotypes which were all high-risk genotypes, and HPV 52 was the most dominant in all different age groups.

The retrospective study showed a high prevalence of HPV infection in Chaohu City in the past two years. More high-risk genotype infection and single infection than low-risk genotype infection and multiple infection, and high-risk genotype infection and single infection mainly occurring in the middle and old age were the characteristics of HPV infection in Chaohu. HPV 52, 53, and 58 were the dominant HPV genotypes, suggesting that vaccine which contained HPV 52, 53, and 58 genotypes might be a better choice for this region.