PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION AMONG ABORTION APPLICANTS AND PATIENTS AT A SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED DISEASE CLINIC

The base-line prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among applicants for first trimester induced abortion and among a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic population with macroscopically visible condyloma is investigated. Cervical cells were collected from 505 women applying for induced abortion. Cell scrapes were obtained from the surface of the warts from 81 female and 32 male STD patients. HPV DNA 6/11, 16/18, and 31/33/35 were detected by a dot blot technique (ViraPap and ViraType, Life. Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD). Of the 505 abortion applicants, 31 (6.1%) had HPV DNA. In the STD population, 64 (79.0%) patients had positive test results for HPV DNA from cervical, introital cell scrapes, or both. Of the 32 male STD patients from whom preputial, urethral samples, or both were taken, 24 (75%) had HPV DNA. After typing, the relative proportion of HPV 6/11 was 9.7% in abortion applicants, 72.2% in female STD patients, and 91.3% in male STD patients. The relative proportion of high-risk HPV types, such as 16/18 and 31/33/35, was 89.7% among abortion applicants, 38.9% among female STD patients and 13.0% among male STD patients. The majority of abortion applicants infected with HPV were thus infected with a potentially oncogenic HPV type, and the prevalence of HPV type 16/18 and 31/33/35 was also high among female STD patients.