Prevalence of High-risk Human Papillomavirus Infection and Cytologic Result in Thailand

Cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer with a high mortality rate. The established causeis high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) and a new modality for cervical cancer screening is thecombination of cervical cytology with HPV testing. The aim of present study was to identify the prevalence ofhigh-risk HPV infection, and cervical cytological profiles of healthy Thai women. This largest cross-sectionalinvestigation of HPV testing so far with cytology screening in Thailand was conducted between April 2009 andMarch 2010, covering a total of 14,747 women. The correlation between HPV viral load and cytology was alsoassessed. The mean age of the study group was 46.4 years (range 20-77 years) and the prevalence of high risk HPVinfection was 8.23%. In positive women, negative cytology was observed in 72.9% , and cytology abnormalities in27.1%, as compared to 1.57% in HPV negative women. The highest prevalence of HPV infection was identifiedin the youngesy age group (≤30 years). The mean viral load was 6.06x105 (range 5,040.13 to 1.05x107)and HPVviral load titers were higher among in women with abnormal cytology.