|
|
British Journal of Cancer (2005) 93, 1068-1076.
doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6602736 Published online 11 October 2005
Cervical human papillomavirus infection and squamous intraepithelial lesions in rural Gambia, West Africa: viral sequence analysis and epidemiology
S R Wall1,6,8
2Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, UK
3London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
4MRC Laboratories Farafenni, PO Box 273, Banjul, The Gambia
5Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Correspondence to: Dr SR Wall, E-mail: wallsr@cf.ac.uk
6These authors contributed equally to this work.
7Current address: Secretariat de Son Altesse l'Aga Khan, Aiglemont, 60270 Gouvieux, France.
8Current address: Department of Child Health, Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University, 5th Floor University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, Wales, UK.
Received 18 May 2005; revised 29 June 2005; accepted 6 July 2005; published online 11 October 2005
The development of effective strategies against cervical cancer in Africa requires accurate type specific data on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence, including determination of DNA sequences in order to maximise local vaccine efficacy. We have investigated cervical HPV infection and squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) in an unselected cohort of 1061 women in a rural Gambian community. Squamous intraepithelial lesions was diagnosed using cytology and histology, HPV was typed by PCR-ELISA of DNA extracts, which were also DNA sequenced. The prevalence of cervical HPV infection was 13% and SIL were observed in 7% of subjects. Human papillomavirus-16 was most prevalent and most strongly associated with SIL. Also common were HPV-18, -33, -58 and, notably, -35. Human papillomavirus DNA sequencing revealed HPV-16 samples to be exclusively African type 1 (Af1). Subjects of the Wolof ethnic group had a lower prevalence of HPV infection while subjects aged 25-44 years had a higher prevalence of cervical precancer than older or younger subjects. This first report of HPV prevalence in an unselected, unscreened rural population confirms high rates of SIL and HPV infection in West Africa. This study has implications for the vaccination of Gambian and other African populations in the prevention of cervical cancer.
Keywords: HPV; SIL; DNA sequence; unselected; rural; Africa; vaccination
back to top  |
| Article links | |
| ||
| ||
 | Send to a friend | |
 | Download PDF | |
| ||
| ||
| ||
 | Full text | |
| ||
| ||
| ||
 | Preceding article | |
 | Next article | |
 | Table of Contents | |
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
|
|
|
|
| |||
| Print ISSN: 0007-0920 | Online ISSN: 1532-1827 | © 2005 Cancer Research UK | ||
| |||
| Privacy Policy | |||