A-306 Prevalence of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus in the Brazilian Population. Data from a Clinical Laboratory (2017-2024)

Abstract Background The infections caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are among the most prevalent causes of sexually transmitted diseases in the world, ranging from genital warts to pre-malignant lesions that can progress to cervical cancer, vaginal and vulvar neoplasms, as well as anal and penile cancer. In Brazil, cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent types of cancer among women, ranking third in incidence when excluding non-melanoma skin tumors. This high incidence reflects the high prevalence of HPV infection, which is the main etiological factor of the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of low and high-risk HPV genotypes according to gender and age group over eight years (2017 – 2024) of analysis, using the database of a clinical laboratory in Brazil. Methods A retrospective analysis of 56,542 clinical samples from patients with suspected HPV infection was carried out between January 2017 and November 2024. The methodology applied was hybrid capture using the HC2 HPV DNA® kit (Qiagen), following the manufacturer*s recommendations. The analysis included the identification of low-risk HPV types (6, 11, 42, 43, and 44) and high-risk types (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, and 68). Results Among the 56,542 clinical samples from patients suspected of having HPV virus, we found 18,130 (32.08%) positives for HPV presence. Of the positives, 32.98% (5,980/18,130) demonstrated low-risk subtypes, while 67.02% (12,150/18,130) were identified as high-risk subtypes. The highest age prevalence was between 21 to 40 years, representing 68.73% of the positive results. The gender distribution showed that 97.9% (17,751/18,130) of the positive samples were from women. When analyzing the distribution of sex and HPV subtype, we found significative divergences in the infection pattern between men and women. Among women, high-risk HPV predominated, accounting for 67.4% (11,964/17,751) of diagnosed cases. In contrast, among men, the low-risk HPV subtypes were the most prevalent, corresponding to 51% (193/379) of the cases. Overall, 98.78% of the positive cases were from patients treated by the Brazilian private health system. Conclusion The analyses demonstrated the predominance of HPV infection inquiries in women, in which the high-risk subtypes were prevalent. Although studies indicate that men have an important role in the dissemination of HPV, acting as significant transmission vectors, in this study, male adherence to diagnosis was extremely low, representing only 3.12% of the tests carried out. This may be related to the fact that HPV infection in this gender usually manifests in a benign and asymptomatic manner. These findings reinforce the need to increase awareness and prevention strategies targeted at the male population, aiming not only to reduce transmission but also to control potential complications associated with HPV.