"I'm neither here, which would be bad, nor there, which would be good": the information needs of HPV+ women. A qualitative study based on in-depth interviews and counselling sessions in Jujuy, Argentina.

The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the information needs of HPV+ women. We conducted 38 in-depth interviews with HPV+ women in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. The interviews included a counselling session to respond to women's concerns and questions. Women perceived the information provided as good, despite having several doubts and misconceptions after receiving results of an HPV+ test. They expressed difficulties in formulating questions during the consultation due to shame, excess of information provided or lack of familiarity with technical language. They valued emotional support and being treated kindly by professionals. The perceived information needs that emerged as most important were: (1) the meaning of an HPV+ result and its relationship with cervical cancer evolution and severity; (2) continuity and timing of the care process; (3) information on the sexual transmission of the virus; (4) explanation of the presence or absence of symptoms. Women's primary unperceived information needs were: (1) detailed information about colposcopy, biopsy and treatments and their effects (including fertility consequences); and (2) deconstructing the association of sexual transmission with infidelity. Sources of information included: (1) the health care system; (2) the internet; and (3) social encounters (close friends and relatives). It is crucial to strengthen the processes for delivering results, with more thorough information, improved emotional support and active listening focused on the patient, as well as to conceive new formats to provide information in stages and/or gradually, in order to facilitate women's access to the health care system and the information they need.

Conversations Surrounding the Use of DNA Tests in the Family Reunification of Migrants Separated at the United States-Mexico Border in 2018.

In April 2018, the U.S. implemented a "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that would lead to the separation of more than 2,000 migrant families over the following months. By that summer, the policy and resultant family separations had generated a media storm that swept up the public. In early June, the government announced its consideration of DNA testing to aid in the detection of human trafficking in immigration contexts. Later that month, as the government retracted the child separation policy, the public began questioning how children and adults would be reunited and discussing the potential usefulness of DNA testing for those reunifications. Then in early July, the government announced that DNA testing was indeed being used, and by mid-month the public's outrage over the use of DNA was strong. We set out to examine the public dialogue on DNA testing-including misunderstandings and miscommunications-both in newspaper coverage and on Twitter in the 2-month summer period of 2018, at the height of public discussion of migrant family separations and then reunifications. We performed database searches identifying 263 newspaper articles and used Twitter's advanced search function identifying 153 Tweets containing discussion of the use of DNA for migrant family reunification. Upon the resulting sources, we performed content analysis, analyzing for slant on the immigration policy and the use of DNA tests using a combination of open and closed codes. Our analysis showed that perspectives on the use of DNA diverged in connection with perspectives on the immigration policy, and that there was a contrast among the cohorts in the stated utility of DNA testing. These findings offer insight into a) how DNA testing in a highly politicized immigration context was represented in media coverage and b) the public's understanding of the role that DNA testing could or should play in immigration. By detailing the role that comments from experts, stakeholders, and the public played in these discussions, we hope to provide lessons for communications with the public about future non-medical applications of genetic technologies.

Evaluation of the usefulness of a device for Human Papilloma Virus DNA collection and reservation in self-collected cervicovaginal samples stored dry in women with cervical dysplasia, Bogotá, Colombia / Evaluación de la utilidad de un dispositivo para toma y preservación del ADN del virus del papiloma humano de muestras cérvico-vaginales autorrecolectadas y almacenadas en seco en mujeres con displasia cervical, Bogotá, Colombia

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of a device for collecting and preserving human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA in self-collected vaginal samples stored dry during 14 days. Materials and methods: Diagnostic concordance pilot study that included non-pregnant women over 25 years of age with a biopsy-confirmed result of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 1 or more, coming to two referral centres in Bogotá, Colombia. Women with a history of total hysterectomy were excluded. Convenience sampling was used. The device uses real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) for DNA detection. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were measured, as well as the results of the test when the sample was collected by the patient and when it was collected by the physician, and the amount of DNA in the samples taken and processed on day 1, and in those processed on day 14, using Ct thresholds. Descriptive statistics were applied. Overall concordance was estimated by means of the kappa coefficient and mean differences in DNA amount. Materials and methods: Diagnostic concordance pilot study that included non-pregnant women over 25 years of age with a biopsy-confirmed result of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 1 or more, coming to two referral centres in Bogotá, Colombia. Women with a history of total hysterectomy were excluded. Convenience sampling was used. The device uses real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) for DNA detection. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were measured, as well as the results of the test when the sample was collected by the patient and when it was collected by the physician, and the amount of DNA in the samples taken and processed on day 1, and in those processed on day 14, using Ct thresholds. Descriptive statistics were applied. Overall concordance was estimated by means of the kappa coefficient and mean differences in DNA amount. Results: A kappa coefficient of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.71-0.96) was found for concordance in high-risk HPV detection between the self-collected cervicovaginal sample and the sample taken by the clinician. There were no differences in terms of the amount of viral DNA between day 1 and day 14 (DM -0.34 cycles; 95% CI: - 2.29 to 1.61). Conclusion: Self-collected vaginal samples using the storage device are reliable for high-risk HPV detection in patients with cervical dysplasia, and preserve viral DNA for 14 days if stored dry at room temperature. Confirmation studies in the general population are required.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Evaluar la utilidad de un dispositivo para toma y preservación del DNA del virus del papiloma humano (VPH) de muestras vaginales recolectadas por autotoma y almacenadas en seco durante 14 días. Materiales y métodos: Estudio piloto de concordancia diagnóstica. Se incluyeron mujeres mayores de 24 años no gestantes con un resultado de neoplasia intraepitelial cervical (NIC) grado 1 o más, confirmado por biopsia en dos instituciones de referencia en Bogotá, Colombia. Se excluyeron mujeres con antecedente de histerectomía total. Se realizó un muestreo por conveniencia. El dispositivo utiliza PCR (reacción en cadena de la polimerasa) en tiempo real para detección del ADN. Se midieron variables sociodemográficas y clínicas, así como el resultado de la prueba por autotoma y tomada por el médico, y la cantidad de ADN de las muestras tomadas el día 1 procesadas ese día, y el día 14, por medio del Ct umbral. Se realizó estadística descriptiva. Se calculó la concordancia global por medio del índice de kappa ponderado y la diferencia de medias de la cantidad de ADN. Resultados: La concordancia en la detección de VPH de alto riesgo mostró un kappa = 0,84 (IC 95 %: 0,71-0,96) entre la muestra cervicovaginal recolectada por autotoma frente a la muestra cervical recolectada por el médico. No hubo diferencias en la cantidad de ADN viral entre el día 1 y el 14 (DM -0,34 ciclos; IC 95 %: -2,29 a 1,61). Conclusión: Las muestras vaginales recolectadas por autotoma usando el dispositivo de almacenamiento son confiables para la detección de VPH de alto riesgo en pacientes con displasia cervical, y preservan el ADN viral por 14 días si se almacenan en seco a temperatura ambiente. Se requieren estudios en población general para poder confirmar.

Population-based prevalence of cervical infection with human papillomavirus genotypes 16 and 18 and other high risk types in Tlaxcala, Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer remains an important cause of cancer mortality for Mexican women. HPV 16/18 typing may help to improve cervical cancer screening. Here we present the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) including HPV16 and HPV18 from the FRIDA (Forwarding Research for Improved Detection and Access) population. METHODS: Beginning in 2013, we recruited 30,829 women aged 30-64 in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Cervical samples were collected and tested for 14 hrHPV genotypes (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, and 68). We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios with 95 % confidence intervals for hrHPV infections according to putative risk factors. RESULTS: Prevalence of infection with any of the 14 hrHPV types was 11.0 %. The age-specific prevalence of all hrHPV formed a U-shaped curve with a higher prevalence for women aged 30-39 and 50-64 than women aged 40-49. Across all age groups, 2.0 % of women were positive for HPV16 and/or HPV18 (HPV16/18), respectively. HPV16/18 prevalence also showed a U-shaped curve with increased prevalence estimates for women aged both 30-39 and 60-64. Both prevalence curves had a significant quadratic age coefficient. Infections with hrHPV were positively associated with an increased number of lifetime sexual partners, a history of sexually transmitted disease, being unmarried, use of hormonal contraception, having a history of smoking and reported condom use in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: The FRIDA population has a bimodal distribution of both hrHPV and HPV16/18 positivity with higher prevalences at ages 30-39 and 60-64. These findings will help to evaluate triage algorithms based on HPV genotyping. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02510027 .

HPV16/18 genotyping for the triage of HPV positive women in primary cervical cancer screening in Chile.

BACKGROUND: We previously conducted a population-based screening trial of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing and conventional cytology, demonstrating higher sensitivity (92.7 % vs 22.1 % for CIN2+) but lower positive predictive value (10.5 % vs 23.9 %) of hrHPV testing. Here we report the performance of HPV16/18 genotyping to triage the hrHPV positive participants. METHODS: Women aged 25 years and older received hrHPV (Hybrid Capture 2) and Papanicolaou testing; positives by either test underwent colposcopy and directed biopsy, as did a sample of double-negatives. hrHPV positive women were reflex-tested with HPV16/18 genotyping (Digene HPV Genotyping PS Test). RESULTS: Among the 8,265 participants, 10.7 % were hrHPV positive, 1.7 % had ASCUS+ cytology, 1.2 % had CIN2+; 776 (88 %) hrHPV positive women had complete results, of whom 38.8 % were positive for HPV16 (24.0 %), HPV18 (9.7 %) or both (5.1 %). CIN2+ prevalence in HPV16/18 positive women (16.3 %, 95 % CI 12.3-20.9) was twice that of HPV16/18 negative women (8.0 %, 95 % CI 5.7-10.8). HPV16/18 genotyping identified 40.5 % of CIN2, 66.7 % of CIN3 and 75.0 % of cancers. Compared to hrHPV screening alone, HPV16/18 triage significantly reduced the referral rate (10.7 % vs 3.7 %) and the number of colposcopies required to detect one CIN2+ (9 vs 6). When HPV16/18 negative women with baseline ASCUS+ cytology were also colposcopied, an additional 14 % of CIN2+ was identified; referral increased slightly to 4.2 %. CONCLUSIONS: HPV16/18 triage effectively stratified hrHPV positive women by their risk of high-grade lesions. HPV16/18 positive women must be referred immediately; referral could be deferred in HPV16/18 negative women given the slower progression of non-HPV16/18 lesions, however, they will require active follow-up.