Human papillomavirus infection in Beijing, People's Republic of China: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND

No recent data exist on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in Beijing, People's Republic of China.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: We interviewed and examined a representative, randomly selected sample of 5552 sexually active women aged 25-54 years. Cervical cell samples were analysed for HPV DNA by a MY09/11-based PCR assay.

RESULTS

Human papillomavirus prevalence was 6.7% overall and 4.8% among women without cervical abnormalities. Of the 21 subtypes identified, HPV16 was the commonest type (2.6% overall; 39.1% of HPV-positive women), followed by HPV 58 (1.0%), 33 (0.8%), 43 (0.7%) and 56 (0.7%). High-risk HPV types predominated in all age groups. Human papillomavirus prevalence was highest in young to middle-aged women. Marital status, number of husband's sexual partners, age at sexual debut and nulligravidity were all associated with being HPV positive.

CONCLUSIONS

In our survey, HPV 16, HPV 58 and HPV 33 were the most prevalent HPV types in Beijing, indicating the potential for the prophylactic HPV 16/18 vaccine in China.