Title : Co-infection of high-risk Human Papilloma Virus with Hepatitis b virus, c.trachomatis and n.gonorrhea in young tanzanian women
Abstract:
Background: Currently it is not clear whether co-infection with other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may promote HPV persistence and progression of cervical lesions to CC. We explore the quality of self-cytobrush in HPV detection and associations with STIs in young Tanzanian women.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from April 2020 to June 2021 among women aged 18-24 from Universities in Mbeya, Tanzania. Female students were randomly selected from a stratified sampling. Self-administered questionnaires, blood, and self-vaginal cytobrush were obtained from female participants. Anyplex 14HR-HPV assay detected 14hr-HPV and 7 essential STIs for mucosal STIs from HPV-DNA using a multiplex CFX96 RT-PCR system. We also performed serological testing for HIV, Syphilis and HBV.
Results: Overall, 166 young women from five universities were recruited. The HPV-DNA concentration was sufficient in 98.7%. Prevalence of 14hr-HPV was 60.7% with 49% being multiple infections. HPV16/18 accounted for 26.8%, C. trachomatis 13.2%, N.gonorrhoea 1.2% Seroprevalence of HIV was 1.3%, Syphilis 1.8%, and HBV was 9.8%. The distribution of highly oncogenic hr-HPV genotypes was HPV16-19.5%, HPV18-8.7%, HPV35-8.5%, and HPV 45-3.1%. Among cases, a significant association of HBV co-infection was observed with HPV16-31.2%, p=0.036; HPV18-18.8%, p=0.009. Dual or triple infection of HPV52/68/56/59 with CT/NG was reported p<0.055.
Conclusion: We found that a self-cytobrush is easily implementable and can provide adequate HPV-DNA. The higher prevalence of HPV/HBV coexistence and other STIs is a cause for concern. There is a paramount need to promote awareness of HPV infections and other STIs. These findings extend to further epidemiological studies.
