Background

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) constitute one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections and are the etiological agents for invasive cervical cancer, the predominant cancer among women in Botswana. However, the prevalence of HPV genotypes in Botswana has yet to be reported

Methods

139 endocervical swabs were taken at baseline from HIV-1 infected, HSV-2 seropositive women enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study designed to assess the influence of herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infection on genital tract shedding of HIV-1. Extracted DNA was evaluated for the presence of low-risk and high-risk HPV using the Roche Linear Array.

Results

Genotyping identified HPV in 95 of 139 women of which 61/95 were infected with high-risk HPV and 56/95 with low-risk HPV. The median number of genotypes was 2 (IQR: 1–4). The most prevalent HPV genotype in HIV-infected women was HPV 58. Abnormal cervical cytology was detected in 87/127 women and was associated with contemporaneous HPV infection (RR=1.43, 95% CI: 1.05–1.93) (p=0.02).

Conclusions

HPV prevalence was high among HIV-infected women with infection by multiple genotypes being widespread. The associations attributed to specific oncogenic HPV subtypes and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions presented here provide critical information to inform future vaccine policy within Botswana.