Clinical epidemiology and associations between HPV infection and vaginal infections in Jinan, China: a cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND

As the principal cause of cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is linked to vaginal infections such as bacterial vaginosis (BV), vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), aerobic vaginitis (AV), and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV); however, the exact relationship remains controversial.

METHODS

In this study, we performed a cross-sectional analysis of 10,104 women in Jinan, China, to establish a detailed association between HPV and vaginal infections.

RESULTS

Our analysis showed that the HPV infection rate in Jinan was 21.84% of which the high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection rate was 84.32%. Although HR-HPV, low-risk HPV, BV, VVC, and TV prevalence rates across seasons were not statistically significant, we discerned significance for AV. In addition, while there was no difference between the prevalence of HPV and VVC, women with BV, AV, TV, or any vaginal infection manifested a higher risk of HPV infection. As for HR-HPV, our results showed statistically significant differences in HR-HPV infection rates between patients with BV, AV, TV, or any type of vaginal infection and the control group; however, VVC cases and cases without VVC did not differ. Furthermore, our correlation analysis among different HR-HPV genotypes and vaginal infections revealed an elevated incidence of BV in individuals with HPV45, HPV51, HPV52, HPV58, HPV66, and HPV68. AV exhibited an elevated infection rate in women with HPV16, HPV33, and HPV68; while TV demonstrated an increased infection risk in women with HPV52.

CONCLUSION

We hereby explored the complex relationship between HPV infection and vaginal infections and provided information on early-detection, preventive, and therapeutic strategies.