RESUMEN
The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the highest in young, sexually active women less than 35 years of age. Direct diagnosis of infection by enabling genotyping methods is important considering that the viral types are divided into high (HR-HPV) and low (LR-HPV) oncogenic risk. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of HPV infection in self-collected samples from young women. A cross-sectional study of 245 sexually active students (18 to 35 years of age) was undertaken with self-collected samples. Extracted DNA was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the PGMY 09/11 and PC04/GH20 primers for the detection of HPV DNA and the ß-globin gene, respectively. Viral genotyping was performed by type-specific PCR (TS-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Of the 236 valid samples, 68 (28.9%) were positive for HPV DNA, as genotyped by TS-PCR and RFLP. The HR-HPV were most prevalent, especially HPV-16, -31, -33, and -45, and the most prevalent LR-HPV were HPV-6 and -83. Multi-type HPV infections were detected in 17 (25%) samples. HPV infection was statistically more prevalent among younger women with lower educational levels and who had more partners in the past 2 years. A high prevalence of HPV infection was found in the age group examined, especially HR-HPV types, as well as the presence of risk behaviors associated with HPV infection were observed. Considering these results, vaccinating females before the onset of sexual activity in Brazil should be emphasized.