Prevalence of vaginal HPV infection among adolescent and early adult girls in Jos, North-Central Nigeria

PURPOSE: Knowledge of the prevalence of HPV infection among adolescent and early adult girls is essential to determining the best age for the introduction of HPV vaccine, monitoring vaccine efficacy, and giving insight into determinants of persistent high-risk HPV infection, a necessary cause of cervical cancer. Yet, there have been limited studies of HPV infection among adolescent and early adult girls in low-and-middle-income countries. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we randomly selected 205 girls, aged 9–20 years, from 10 schools in central Nigeria. We obtained informed consent and assent, collected data, and trained participants to self-collect vaginal samples using swab stick. We genotyped HPV using SPF(10)-DEIA/LiPA(25) and analyzed data using Stata 14®. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the girls was 14.9 (2.3) years. We found HPV in 13.2% of vaginal swabs. The earliest age at which anyHPV and hrHPV infections were detected was 10 and 12 years respectively. The prevalence of any HPV peaked at 16 and 17 years, hrHPV at 16 years, lrHPV at 17 and 18 years and multiple hrHPV 18 years of age. The prevalence of hrHPV infection was 1.5% among the 9–12 years age group, 2.9% among 13–16 years and 3.4% among 17–20 years old. The commonest hrHPV types detected were 52 (3.9%), 18 (1.5%) and 51 (2.4%). The most common lrHPV types was 6 (2.9%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HPV infection in these urbanized young girls in Nigeria is high and commences after 9 years of age. HPV vaccination in this population should start at 9 years of age or younger to prevent the establishment of persistent HPV infection. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-022-07215-7.