THE DISTRIBUTION AND PREVALENCE OF HIGH-RISK HPV GENOTYPES OTHER THAN HPV-16 AND HPV-18 AMONG WOMEN ATTENDING GYNECOLOGISTS’ OFFICES IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Cervical cancer represents a great burden to public health of women. This study aimed to obtain a nationwide genotyping survey and analysis of high risk-HPV including those that are caused by HPV types other than HPV-16 and HPV-18, among women in Kazakhstan. This study was conducted based on the collection of survey and cervical swabs of 1645 women across the country. The samples were genotyped for high-risk HPV types based on real-time PCR methods. Collected data was analyzed with the focus on high-risk HPV types other than HPV-16 and -18. Infection was present in 22% of women who participated in the study. The most prevalent types were HPV-31 among single infections and HPV-68 among multiple infections. Conclusively, despite the lack of attention high-risk HPV types beyond HPV-16 and -18 get in attempts of cervical cancer prevention in Kazakhstan, their prevalence is high and plays a large role in cervical cancer epidemiological situation.