Prevalence of HPV infections in surgical smoke exposed gynecologists

OBJECTIVES: Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been reported recently in surgical smoke generated by gynecological operations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether gynecologists who have performed electrosurgery including loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), are at risk of acquiring HPV DNA through surgical smoke. METHODS: A related questionnaire was designed and 700 gynecologist nasal swab samples were collected in 67 hospitals. In addition, the flow fluorescence hybridization technique was used to detect HPV DNA, and the Chi-square test was applied to analyze whether related risk factors including electrical surgery, were correlated with HPV infection in surgeons’ nasal epithelial cells. RESULTS: The HPV infection rate in the nasal epithelial cells of the participants who performed electrosurgery (8.96%, 42/469) or LEEP (10.11%, 36/356) was significantly higher than that in the remaining participants who did not perform electrosurgery (1.73%, 4/231) or LEEP (2.91%, 10/344), respectively. The most prevalent HPV genotype in the electrosurgery group was HPV16 (76.19%, 32/42). The HPV-positive rate was increased in the group that had a longer duration of electrosurgery (P = 0.016). Additionally, the HPV detection rate was significantly lower in electrosurgery operators who used surgical mask (7.64%, 33/432) than in those who did not use protective masks (24.32%, 9/37). Furthermore, the N95 mask (0%, 0/196) significantly reduced the risk for HPV infection compared to that with the general mask (13.98%, 33/236, P < 0.001). Furthermore, 46 participants infected with HPV were followed-up for 3–24 months, and approximately 43.48% (20/46) and 100% (41/41) became negative for HPV DNA, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Gynecologists who performed electrosurgery including LEEP were at risk of acquiring HPV infection. Surgical masks, especially the N95 mask, significantly decreased the hazard of HPV transmission from surgical smoke. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00420-020-01568-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.