JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Infection by human papillomavirus (HPV) induces various cancers, mainly cervical cancer, but also anal and pharyngeal cancer. Regarding cervical cancer, its frequency and mortality are clearly higher in Reunion Island than in mainland France. However, vaccination coverage in France and especially in Reunion Island has remained very low so far.

Objective:

To describe the prevalence of infections by different HPV genotypes in a population at risk of sexually transmitted infections. To describe the prevalence of different genotypes of HPV infection by gender, by sexuality and by swab site. To describe the correlates and risk factors for HPV infection. To compare the distribution of different HPV types by swab site in the same patient.

Methods:

Single-centre cross-sectional descriptive study on data collected from October 2020 to December 2022 from vaginal, anal, pharyngeal and/or urinary regions swab samples collected during screening for Chlamydia trachomatis in patients attending a sexually transmitted infection screening centre. HPV detection and genotyping will be performed by Anyplex II HPV28 Detection (Seegene Inc) PCR.

Results:

This study will analyse 1200 samples collected from women and men. These results will be correlated with socio-demographic and clinical data collected via a self-administered questionnaire during the consultation.

Conclusions:

This study will make it possible to obtain an estimate of HPV prevalence of in a population at risk of sexually transmitted infections according to, among other things, age, gender, sexuality, HIV status and location prior to a large-scale vaccination campaign against HPV. Collecting data from young patients who are not routinely screened will help evaluate effectiveness of future vaccination campaigns on HPV infection.