India contributes to 1/3rd of worldwide cervical cancer deaths caused by HPV. High risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) 16 and 18 infections are responsible for more than 70% of cases. Early detection of hr-HPV infection can help in prevention and disease management. In rural India, HPV infection is uncontrolled due to poor hygiene, lack of awareness, screening, and vaccination. Hence, our study aims to screen HPV infection in central India starting with Anuppur district of MP. Married women above 15 and women with or without clinical conditions were recruited for the study. Unmarried, pregnant and women with cervical cancer history were excluded. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 782 enrolled married adolescents and middle aged women by obtaining clinical information and cervical swabs between March 2019 to March 2020. Genomic DNA was extracted and screened for HPV using MY09/11 and HPV-16 specific primers, data was analysed using IBM-SPSS statistics software. An overall prevalence of 7.1% HPV infection was observed, and a significant incidence (95%) of hr-HPV 16 genotype was found. There was a considerable decrease in HPV prevalence with age; young adults between 15 and 29 years (86.4%) followed by women aged between 30 and 54 years (13.2%). Among positives, hr-HPV-16 prevalence was not significantly different among the different age-groups (p > 0.05). Hr-HPV-16 infection was detected highest in Scheduled Tribes (ST) 70%, followed by other categories. Interventions such as screening and awareness programs will help in better management of HPV infection.
Keywords: Anuppur district; Cervical cancer; Early diagnosis; High-risk HPV 16; Human papillomavirus infection; PCR.