Prevalence and characteristics of HPV infection in the prevaccination and pre-screening era (2012-2022) in the Valencian Community
Introduction: Persistent infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the main risk factor for cervical cancer. In Spain, the recent introduction of universal vaccination and organized population screening highlights the need for baseline pre-intervention data. The objective of this study is to desc...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Fundación para el Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) |
| Repositorio: | r-FISABIO. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:r-fisabio___::b0d4c48d82eb6f42da190b045e3ba475 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://fisabio.portalinvestigacion.com/publicaciones/21261 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Papillomavirus Infections Uterine cervical neoplasms Cytology Mass screening Vaccination |
| Sumario: | Introduction: Persistent infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the main risk factor for cervical cancer. In Spain, the recent introduction of universal vaccination and organized population screening highlights the need for baseline pre-intervention data. The objective of this study is to describe the prevalence of HPV infection and its association with cytological findings in women aged 25-65 years from a health department in the Valencian Community during 2012-2022, prior to the implementation of universal vaccination and organized screening. Methods: Retrospective, observational, descriptive study including 3,759 women with a single HPV test and Pap smear result. Age distribution, mono/polyinfection, high-risk and low-risk genotypes, number of detected types, and cytology according to the Bethesda system were analyzed. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were applied. Results: HPV was detected in 30.3% of women. Among HPV-positive cases, abnormal cytology accounted for 76% (ASCUS 57.1%, LSIL 15.6%, HSIL 3.4%). The most frequent genotypes were 16 (23.2%), 31 (13.7%), 53 (11.9%), 51 (10.2%) and 56 (9.3%). Polyinfections were more common among younger women (62.2%) and associated with LSIL, whereas monoinfections with HPV-16 in women over 30 years were linked to HSIL (61.0%). Notably, 15.6% of women with normal cytology harbored HPV infection, mainly with high-risk types. Conclusions: Before universal vaccination and organized screening, HPV prevalence was high, with distinct patterns according to age and infection type. These findings provide an essential baseline for future assessment of prevention strategies against cervical cancer in Spain. |
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