Cross-sectional study of genital carcinogenic HPV infections in Paramaribo, Suriname: prevalence and determinants in an ethnically diverse population of women in a pre-vaccination era.

Objective: Cervical cancer is caused by carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Prior to the introduction of HPV vaccination in Suriname, we performed a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of and determinants for genital carcinogenic HPV infections.

Methods: Women were recruited at a family planning (FP) clinic and a sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic. Vaginal swabs were used for HPV genotyping by the SPF10 PCR-DEIA-LiPA25 system. Logistic regression was used to identify determinants for carcinogenic HPV infection.

Results: The prevalence of any HPV was 54.2% and of carcinogenic HPV was 27.9% among 813 women attending the FP clinic. Among the 188 women attending the STI clinic, the prevalence of any HPV (76.1%) and of carcinogenic HPV (40.4%) was significantly higher. HPV52 was the most prevalent genotype in both clinics. The prevalence of HPV16 and/or 18 was 6.4% in the FP clinic and 12.2% in the STI clinic. The following determinants were independently associated with carcinogenic HPV infection among women visiting the FP clinic: ≥2 recent partners (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.13 to 2.06), Chlamydia trachomatis co-infection (OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.32 to 2.70), disassortative ethnic sexual mixing (OR 1.50; 95% CI 1.13 to 1.99) and ethnic group (OR 1.90; 95% CI 1.27 to 2.85 for Creole and OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.06 to 2.62 for mixed ethnicity, both compared with Hindustani). No independent determinants were found among women visiting the STI clinic.

Conclusions: Carcinogenic HPV is highly prevalent among women in Suriname, and not equally distributed among ethnic groups. These data provide a baseline to assess possible shifts in the prevalence of HPV genotypes following vaccination.