Cross-sectional study on the prevalence of HPV antibodies in the general population of the Czech Republic

OBJECTIVES The assessment of the prevalence of antibodies to human papillomaviruses (HPV) in the healthy population is essential for effective planning of HPV vaccine implementation into the preventive programmes for HPV-associated diseases and for the prospective monitoring of the impact of HPV vaccines in the Czech population. METHODS The seropositivity for HPV-6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 virus-like particles was determined in sera from 3150 healthy individuals (age range 6-76 years) by means of enzyme-linked immunoassay. RESULTS The seroprevalences for HPV-6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 were 23.8%, 15.2%, 14.5%, 9.9%, 16.4% and 9.6% in women and 18.4%, 13.7%, 6.5%, 5.4%, 6.1% and 4.3% in men. For both genders, except for HPV11, these rates were age dependent. The prevalence of antibodies to HPV-16 and/or 18 reached the maximum of 27.0% in women 30-39 years of age and of 14.4% in men 50-59 years of age. The highest proportion of individuals' seropositive for any of the vaccine types HPV-6/11/16/18 was in 30- to 39-year-old women (50.0%) and in ≥ 60-year-old men (37.6%). Antibodies specific for vaccine HPV types were detected in 18.0% of children 6- to 14-year-old but in 26.4%, those older than 14 years. CONCLUSIONS The data reveal age-specific differences in the HPV seropositivity rates between healthy women and men and support the implementation of HPV vaccination in the Czech Republic before the age of 13.