Baseline prevalence and type distribution of Human papillomavirus in sexually active non-vaccinated adolescent girls from Argentina.

In 2011, Argentina launched a government-funded national Human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization program incorporating a bivalent HPV vaccine, with a 0-1-6-month schedule, for girls 11 years of age, born after January 2000. Monitoring the changes of HPV infection prevalence among young women has been proposed as an endpoint for early assessment of HPV vaccination programs. However, the data on HPV prevalence at young ages are very limited. The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of HPV infection and type-specific distribution in sexually active 15-17-year-old non-vaccinated girls. Cervical samples from 1073 adolescents were collected for HPV detection and genotyping using the BSGP5+/GP6+PCR-reverse line blot (RLB) assay. Out of 957 specimens analyzed, 56.3% were positive for any HPV type; 42.2% harbored at least one high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) type and 30.8% low-risk HPV (LR-HPV) types. Multiple and single infections were identified in 36.3% and 20.0% of the samples respectively. The 6 most common HR-HPV types were HPV16 (11.1%), HPV52 (10.8%), HPV56 (8.3%), HPV51 (7.4%), HPV58 (7.3%) and HPV31 (7.1%). The prevalence of HR-HPV-16/18 was 15.2%. In conclusion, results confirm that HPV (particularly HR-types) are very common among sexually active adolescents, and prevalence rises quickly after their sexual debut. Our HPV type-specific prevalence baseline may be used to monitor post-vaccinal longitudinal changes in Argentina.

Human papillomavirus genotypes in women with cervical cytological abnormalities from an area with high incidence of cervical cancer.

It has been well demonstrated the relationship between the infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPVs) genotypes and cervical cancer. In Northeastern Argentina a high incidence of this pathology has been described and therefore a high prevalence of HPV infection is expected. In order to identify HPV genotypes associated with malignant and pre-malignant cervical lesions present in the area, 53 ecto-endo cervical cell specimens obtained from women with cytohistological alterations were studied by a PCR-RFLP technique. Out of 53 patients, 34 (64.2%) were positive for HPV infection, being HPV-16 (32.3%) the most frequently found genotype, followed by HPV-58 (14.7%), -6, -18 and -45 (5.9%), -33, -52, -53, -54, -56, -66, -MM4 and -LVX100 (2.9%). Also 5 cases of infection caused by multiple genotypes were found, which corresponded to 14.7% of the positive cases. Results indicate that besides HPV-16 and -18, the most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes worldwide, others like -45 and -58 as well as co-infection cases are frequent between women of Northeastern Argentina, and a particular attention should be paid to this circumstance because it could be an epidemiological feature of regional importance and a useful information for a future vaccination program.

Presencia de especies de Legionaella en reservorios domciliarios de agua de Resistencia Chaco, Argentina / Presence of Legionella Species in Residential Water Reservoirs of Resistencia Chaco, Argentina

INTRODUCCIÓN: : El género Legionella comprende especies que se encuentran en ambientes acuáticos, pero se deben incorporar a aerosoles e inhalar para producir enfermedad. Si bien la mayoría de los casos de neumonía son causados por L. pneumophila, de las 58 especies que constituyen este género, 24 se relacionaron a enfermedad humana. El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar la presencia de especies de Legionella en reservorios domiciliarios de agua potable de Resistencia, Chaco. MÉTODOS: Se estudiaron 46 muestras de agua tomadas en diferentes puntos de la ciudad. La detección de Legionella se realizó por cultivo según lo establecido en la norma ISO 11731:1998. La técnica molecular de reacción en cadena de la polimerasa en tiempo real con colorante intercalante (Syber Green) se aplicó a los aislamientos obtenidos por cultivo e identificados como Legionella spp. Las secuencias diana utilizadas correspondieron a fragmentos conservados del gen 23S rRNA para la confirmación del género y el gen mip específico para la especie L. pneumophila. RESULTADOS: En 16 (34,9%) de las 46 muestras estudiadas se recuperaron cepas de Legionella spp. Por la técnica molecular se confirmó la presencia de Legionella pneumophila en 15 de las muestras positivas por cultivo. Además, 3 de estas muestras (6,5%) también resultaron positivas para otras especies del género Legionella. CONCLUSIONES: Este trabajo demostró la presencia de L. pneumophila y otras especies en los reservorios domiciliarios de agua potable en Resistencia

Chlamydia trachomatis as a probable cofactor in human papillomavirus infection in aboriginal women from northeastern Argentina.

OBJECTIVES: High-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are strongly associated with cervical cancer (CC), and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), the most frequent sexually transmitted bacterial infection (STBI) worldwide, seems to be a risk factor for HPV infection and for CC. It is also known that both agents are more prevalent in vulnerable communities where lack of adequate primary health care is a cause for concern. The aim of this work was to determine the impact of CT and HPV infections in women belonging to an isolated aboriginal population (Pilaga community) from a poor region in Northern Argentina (province of Formosa). For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was performed in all sexually active Pilaga women, who attended a local community-based gynecological health screening project. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method on a cervical brush specimen was used to detect both agents. RESULTS: A total of 227 women (20% of the total female population of the Pilaga community) were studied and the overall prevalence was 26.4% for CT, 46.7% for HPV and 16.3% for concurrent infection. CT infection was higher in HPV DNA positive (34.2%) than in HPV DNA negative women (19%; OR: 2.22/95% CI = 1.16-4.28 / p = 0.009) and the most prevalent HPV types were HPV-16 (19.4%), 6 and 18 (5.3%), 58 (3.5%) and 33 (3.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CT and HPV observed in Pilaga women are among the worst registered in Latin America. Also, data collected suggest that chlamydial infection may play an important role in the natural history of HPV infection. On this respect, we propose that the association between these two agents seems to be more related to a mutual potentiation than to the fact that they share a common route of transmission.

Chlamydia trachomatis as a probable cofactor in human papillomavirus infection in aboriginal women from northeastern Argentina

Objectives: High-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are strongly associated with cervical cancer (CC), and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), the most frequent sexually transmitted bacterial infection (STBI) worldwide, seems to be a risk factor for HPV infection and for CC. It is also known that both agents are more prevalent in vulnerable communities where lack of adequate primary health care is a cause for concern. The aim of this work was to determine the impact of CT and HPV infections in women belonging to an isolated aboriginal population (Pilaga community) from a poor region in Northern Argentina (province of Formosa). For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was performed in all sexually active Pilaga women, who attended a local community-based gynecological health screening project. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method on a cervical brush specimen was used to detect both agents. Results: A total of 227 women (20 percent of the total female population of the Pilaga community) were studied and the overall prevalence was 26.4 percent for CT, 46.7 percent for HPV and 16.3 percent for concurrent infection. CT infection was higher in HPV DNA positive (34.2 percent) than in HPV DNA negative women (19 percent; OR: 2.22/95 percent CI = 1.16-4.28 / p = 0.009) and the most prevalent HPV types were HPV-16 (19.4 percent), 6 and 18 (5.3 percent), 58 (3.5 percent) and 33 (3.1 percent). Conclusions: The prevalence of CT and HPV observed in Pilaga women are among the worst registered in Latin America. Also, data collected suggest that chlamydial infection may play an important role in the natural history of HPV infection. On this respect, we propose that the association between these two agents seems to be more related to a mutual potentiation than to the fact that they share a common route of transmission.

Human papillomavirus genotypes in women with cervical cytological abnormalities from an area with high incidence of cervical cancer

La relación entre la infección por los virus papiloma humanos (HPVs) de alto riesgo y el cáncer de cuello de útero ha sido bien demostrada. En el Nordeste de Argentina se observa una alta incidencia de esta patología y en consecuencia se estima una alta prevalencia de infección por HPV. A fin de identificar los genotipos de HPV presentes en el área, asociados a casos de lesiones malignas y premalignas de cuello de útero, se estudiaron 53 muestras ecto-endo cervicales de mujeres con alteraciones citohistológicas residentes permanentes de las ciudades de Resistencia y Corrientes. De las 53 pacientes estudiadas, 34 resultaron positivas para HPV (64.2 por ciento), correspondiendo la mayor frecuencia a HPV-16 (32.3 por ciento), seguido por HPV-58 (14.7 por ciento), HPV-6, -18 y -45 (5.9 por ciento), -33, -52, -53, -54, -56, -66, -MM4 y -LVX100 (2.9 por ciento). Además, se encontraron 5 casos de infecciones mixtas causadas por mas de un genotipo, lo que resulta de importancia ya que representan el 14.7 por ciento del total de los casos positivos. Los resultados demuestran que, además de HPV-16 y -18 que son los genotipos de alto riesgo de mayor prevalencia a nivel mundial, otros como el HPV-45 y -58 y los casos de infecciones múltiples son frecuentes en mujeres del nordeste argentino, lo que podría constituir un rasgo epidemiológico de importancia regional y ser de utilidad en el futuro en los programas de vacunación.