Prevalence and genotypic characterization of human papillomavirus in Iraqi women: a retrospective study of 2,193 cases

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection and is the leading cause of genital warts and cervical cancer. However, research on HPV prevalence within the Iraqi population is limited, with only a few published studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV among Iraqi women. METHODS: In this study, samples from 2,193 married women referred to PharmaGene laboratory for diagnostic evaluation between 2023 and 2025 were analyzed. HPV genotyping was performed using the HPV Direct Flow CHIP system. RESULT: The overall positive rate was 12.7% (n = 279). Within the positive cases, 6.9% had only high-risk (HR-HPV) genotypes, 4.4% had only low-risk (LR-HPV) genotypes, and 1.4% were co-infected with both HR and LR-HPV genotypes. The most frequently detected HPV genotypes were HPV 18 (13.3%), HPV 11 (11.4%), HPV 16 (6.9%), HPV 62/81 (5.7%), HPV 39 (4.5%), HPV 51 (3.6%), and HPV 6 (3.6%). Among HPV-positive cases, the prevalence of single, double, triple, and quadruple or higher infections was 83.5%, 14%, 1.8%, and 0.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study presents novel epidemiological data on the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection in Iraq, offering a valuable basis for enhancing cervical cancer screening and HPV prevention strategies. Furthermore, understanding the distribution of HPV genotypes may support the implementation of targeted vaccination programs.