Cervical Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection in South African Women: Implications for HPV Screening and Vaccine Strategies

Abstract
The prevalence of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) in South African women ( n = 1,073) increased from 20.4% (173/848) in women with normal cytology to 41.7% (48/115) in women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, 70.2% (40/57) in women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and 83% (44/53) in women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs). HPV types 16 and 35 were the dominant types in women with HSILs but not in women in the other categories.