179-84 Chatterjee

Epidemiological studies have firmly demonstrated that human papillomaviruses (HPVs), are established causes of anogenital cancers (Schiffman,1995, Das et al, 2000, Kirwan & Herrington, 2001). HPV 16 and 18 are the most prevalent types in cervical lesions (Van den Brule et al, 1993). Low risk HPV types 6 and 11, in contrast, are mainly associated with recurrent laryngeal papillomatosis and genital warts (Levi et al, 1989). Though HPV is mainly sexually transmitted, there are reports (Cason et al, 1995) of perinatal transmission leading to subclinical infection in infants. This may occur owing to swallowing of the maternal blood, amniotic fluid or vaginal secretions as the fetus passes through an infected birth canal (Tseng et al, 1998). Frequency of HPV infection among pregnant women (Rando Human Papillomavirus Infection Among Indian Mothers and Their Infants