Prevalence and persistence of high-risk HPV genotypes in unvaccinated asymptomatic women: a six-year study in Peru

OBJECTIVE: This study was to determine the frequency of HPV-hr and describe the distribution by categories (HPV16, HPV18, HPV-hr non16/18) among unvaccinated asymptomatic women in Peru over a 6-year period (2013-2018). In addition, the disease clearance rate is assessed in a percentage of cases. RESULTS: Of the 6,665 samples, 2,240 (33.6%) tested positive for HPV. Among the positive cases, single-genotype infections were caused by HPV-16 (14.8%), followed by HPV-18 (2.2%) and clustered high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) genotypes (66.7%). Multiple HPV-16 infections were more common than HPV-18 infections. In addition, 22 cases (1%) presented with infection with HPV-16, HPV-18, and HR-HPV genotypes. A subset of 116 samples from patients with 1 to 2 years of follow-up was analyzed further. Clearance rates were high, at 68.8% for HPV-16 infections and 67.5% for HR-HPV infections. However, the elimination rate of multiple infections with HPV-16 and HR-HPV genotypes was slightly lower, at 55.6%.