Prevalence and distribution of high-risk Human Papillomavirus in Western Türkiye between 2019 and 2022.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a primarily sexually transmitted human pathogen linked with the formation of anogenital warts and several types of cancer including cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, penile cancer, and anal cancer. HPV genotypes are divided into high-risk and low-risk in accordance with their potential for carcinogenesis. The most notable high-risk genotypes are HPV-16 and HPV-18. In this study we report on the PCR analysis results of the cervical smear results of 328 females, and 50 males who have presented to a tertiary care university hospital in the port city of İzmir, Türkiye between August 2019 and August 2022. HPV-DNA positivity percentage was determined as 25.3% (96/378). 5 of 378 patients were HPV-18 positive (age range 31-80) whereas 27 patients were HPV-16 positive (age range 29-66). 64 patients were positive for other high-risk HPV types (age range 27-56). The positivity for HPV-16, HPV-18 and other high-risk HPV types were determined as 7.14%, 1.3% and 16.9% respectively. Our results demonstrate a 25.3% (96/378) positivity among tested patients moreover, out of 96 positive cases at least 32 are vaccine preventable. This study indicates the need for higher coverage of HPV vaccination in Western Türkiye.