Genotyping Human Papillomavirus in Women Attending Cervical Cancer Screening Clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe

Aim: To determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus genotypes in women attending a cervical cancer screening VIAC (visual inspection with acetic acid) clinic.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: VIAC clinic at Parirenyatwa Referral Hospital in Harare in Zimbabwe between February and April 2015.

Methodology: Sexually active women were recruited and they provided their socio-demographic data and self-collected vaginal swabs. HIV status of the participants was determined. DNA was extracted from the swabs using the standard phenol-chloroform method. HPV DNA was detected using the standard consensus MY09/11-GP5+/GP6+ nested polymerase chain reaction. Amplicons were sequenced and sequences analyzed using bioinformatics tools to identify the HPV genotypes.

Results: Sixty women were recruited. Their age ranged from 21-83 years, with a mean of 40.1 years. Most of the women were married and resided in the urban areas. Of the 60 participants, 50% (30/60) were HIV-positive. The prevalence of HPV genotypes in the study subjects was 56.7% (34/60). HPVs were most prevalent in women aged 30 years and below, and became less prevalent as the age increased. The predominant genotypes detected were HPV-16, -58, -52, -45, -18, -33, -51, -6, -81, -11, -70, -62, -32 and -40.

Conclusion: A number of HPV genotypes were detected in half of women tested. There was no significance association between risk-factors (parity, level of education, residence, history of STI, contraceptive use and sexual debut) and HPV infection. The findings of this study showed that consensus nested PCR and DNA sequencing could be used to detect HPV genotypes in women in cervical cancer screening programs. Although this method is sensitive, it is inefficient at detecting multiple HPV infections.