Infection with high‐risk HPV types among female sex workers in northern Vietnam

Vaccines against two high‐risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types, HPV‐16, and HPV‐18, are in use currently, with high efficacy for preventing infections with these HPV types and consequent cervical cancers. However, circulating HPV types can vary with geography and ethnicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HPV types and the association between HPV types and abnormal cervical cytology among female sex workers in Northern Vietnam. Cervical swabs and plasma samples were collected from 281 female sex workers at two health centers in Hanoi and Hai Phong in 2009. The HPV L1 gene was amplified by PCR using original and modified GP5⁺/6⁺ primers. Amplified PCR products were genotyped by the microarray system GeneSquare (KURABO) and/or clonal sequencing. Of the 281 women, 139 (49.5%) were positive for HPV DNA. Among the HPV‐positive samples, 339 strains and 29 different types were identified. Multiple‐type and high risk‐type HPV infections were found in 85 (61.2%) and 124 (89.2%) women, respectively. The most common genotype was HPV‐52, followed by HPV‐16, HPV‐18, and HPV‐58. Abnormal cervical cytology was detected in 3.2% (9/281) of the women, and all of these samples were positive for HPV‐DNA. Age ≤25 years and infection with human immunodeficiency virus were associated positively with HPV infection among the women while ever smoking was associated negatively. These results show that HPV‐52 is most prevalent among female sex workers in Northern Vietnam, most of whom had normal cervical cytology. This information may be important for designing vaccination strategies in Vietnam. J. Med. Virol. 85:288–294, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.