Genotypic characterisation of human papillomavirus infections among persons living with HIV infection; a case–control study in Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among women living with HIV and non-infected women in Ghana. Methods: A case–control study was conducted involving 107 women living with HIV aged between 18 and 59 years (cases) and 100 non-HIV-infected apparently healthy women (controls) who were recruited from the Kumasi South Hospital, from July to December, 2014. Cervicovaginal swabs were taken from study participants to characterise 28 high- and low-risk HPV genotypes using a multiplex real-time PCR. Results: The overall mean age for the participants was 40.10 ± 9.76 years. The prevalence of high-risk (hr)-HPV genotypes was significantly higher among the cases than the controls (77.4% vs. 41.6%, P < 0.0001). Overall, HPV 58 and 54 were the most predominant high-risk (18.8%) and low-risk (15.0%) genotypes detected. The two most common hr-HPV genotype isolates were 58 (18.8%) and 35 (15.9%) with 58 being the most prevalent among age group 35–44 years compared with hr-HPV 16, 18, 35 and 45, found predominantly among 18–34 age group. Conclusions: Significant variations exist in HPV genotypes among HIV-infected and uninfected women.