Prevalence of cervical and intrauterine human papillomavirus infection in the third trimester in asymptomatic women.

OBJECTIVE

To study the prevalence and association of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the cervix of pregnant women without visible signs of genital HPV infection undergoing cesarean delivery in the third trimester and to investigate a possible HPV transmission to the fetus.

METHODS

All women underwent cesarean delivery between 37 and 40 weeks of gestation. Cervical samples were taken prior to cesarean delivery. Furthermore amniotic fluid, placental tissue, and cord blood were sampled and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or Hybrid Capture II test (Digene Corp, Beltsville, MD) was performed to detect HPV DNA.

RESULTS

We found that 56 (36.6 %) of 153 women were positive for HPV in the cervix. Logistic regression analyses showed a decrease of prevalence of HPV infection with increasing maternal age (P = .02). No HPV DNA could be detected in the amniotic fluid or cord blood, whereas eight placental specimens were positive for HPV DNA.

CONCLUSION

The infection rate in women without clinical symptoms of HPV infection is high, but there was no HPV found in the amniotic fluid and in cord blood in women with subclinical infection in the third trimester.