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.