The incidence of high-risk HPV infections in Slovakia at the start of the national organized screening for cervical cancer

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OBJECTIVE: Until now, Slovakia has lacked complex data regarding the prevalence of specific high-risk HPV types in female population. Accordingly, our study focused on the population of Northern Slovakia, providing valuable insights into the correlation between cytological diagnoses, age, and HPV prevalence. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of results from cytological cervical cancer screening and HPV DNA testing in 2023 involving 74,850 women in the Zilina region of northern Slovakia. RESULTS: The most common HPV infection based on the results of the HPV DNA testing was the group positivity for other high-risk HPVs at 17.73%, followed by HPV16 (6.03%) and HPV18 (1.57%) positivity. The overall HPV DNA positivity, regardless of age, was 21.59%. We observed a significant decrease in high-risk HPV prevalence with increasing age (p < 0.001), with the highest values in the age group of 18–25 years (37.92%). A second peak of high-risk HPV infection was observed in the age group of 51–55 years. HPV coinfection, defined as a combination of positive HPV DNA test results, was observed in 3.49% of cases (187/5,354). CONCLUSION: We found relatively high prevalence of high-risk HPV types in Slovak population. Our findings may serve as a valuable baseline for future evaluations of the impact of both organized screening and vaccination in the country.

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