Frequent detection of high-risk HPV types other than HPV 16/18 in a cohort of French women who claimed to have been vaccinated.

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and distribution of HPV in a cohort of vaccinated French women undergoing cervical cancer screening (CCS). Women vaccinated against HPV (either by the bivalent HPV16/18, the quadrivalent HPV6/11/16/18 or the nonavalent HPV6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58 vaccine) and for whom a cervical specimen had been collected were included. Detection and genotyping of 32 alpha-HPV genotypes (HPV6/11/16/18/26/31/33/35/39/40/42/43/44/45/51/52/53/54/56/58/59/61/62/66/67/68/70/73/81/82/83/89) was systematically performed (INNO-LIPA, Fujirebio). In a sub-study, high-risk HPV (hrHPV) was detected using two different HPV screening tests, according to the study period. 464 vaccinated women were included. Cytology was normal for 80.6% of them. The prevalence of alpha-HPV was 59.9% in vaccinated women and 25% of whom had multiple infections. The most prevalent hrHPV genotypes were HPV52 (8.2%), HPV51 (6.9%), and HPV56 (5.8%). HPV16 was detected in only 4.3% of women and was present in three of the four women with a high-grade lesion. In the sub-study, 238 women underwent hrHPV screening. The prevalence of hrHPV ranged from 27.9% to 57.1%, depending on the study period and CCS practices. Alpha-HPV, including high-risk HPV, are frequently detected in vaccinated French women. However, most of the genotypes that have been detected are not covered by the vaccines. The prevalence of HPV 16/18 is low, which confirms the efficacy of HPV vaccines. The implementation of the nonavalent vaccine may change the future epidemiology of hrHPV genotypes.