Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo 2016 Volume 144, Issue 5-6, Pages: 300-306
https://doi.org/10.2298/SARH1606300K
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Human papillomavirus infection prevalence in female university students in Novi Sad, Serbia
Kovačević Gordana (Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina, Novi Sad)
Jovanović-Galović Aleksandra (Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina, Novi Sad)
Petrović Vladimir (Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina, Novi Sad)
Vinarž Željka (Institute for Health Protection of Students, Novi Sad)
Marinković Gordana (Institute for Health Protection of Students, Novi Sad)
Brašanac Bogdanka (Institute for Health Protection of Students, Novi Sad)
Milošević Vesna (Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina, Novi Sad)
Introduction. Cervical cancer, attributed to human papillomavirus (HPV)
infection, represents the fourth most common and lethal cancer in Serbian
women, and the second most common cancer in women aged 15-44. Objective. The
aim of the study was to determine the presence of high-risk and low-risk HPV
types in population of unvaccinated female university students in Novi Sad,
Serbia, and to evaluate possible risk factors for HPV infection. Methods.
Sample consisted of 250 young women (19-26 years of age) attending outpatient
clinics for screening gynecological examination. All participants in the
study completed a specially designed anonymous questionnaire. For the
detection of HPV DNA, two commercial kits - High Risk HPV Real-TM and Low
Risk HPV 6/11 Real-TM (Sacace Biotechnologies, Como, Italy) were used. Thirty
positive samples were retested by GenoFlow HPV Array Test (DiagCor Bioscience
Incorporation Limited, Hong Kong, China). Results. The overall prevalence
rate of HPV was 61.6%. The most common HPV types in the present study were as
follows: HPV 16, 31, 51, 52, and 18. Female students with only one sexual
partner had significantly lower chance of having HPV infection. Other
variables describing lifestyle did not show statistical significance.
Conclusion. The present paper provides data on the prevalence of high- and
low-risk HPV genotypes among university students in Novi Sad. Obtained
results indicate the need for educational activities on sexually transmitted
infections, including HPV, together with promotion of healthy lifestyles.
According to our results, bivalent and quadrivalent prophylactic vaccines
have the potential to prevent over 50% of infections. Percentage of
protection with a second-generation prophylactic nonavalent vaccine would be
more than 80%.
Keywords: human papillomavirus, real-time PCR, students