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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1437309

Disproportionate preponderance of HPV genotypes associated with anogenital warts among HIV positive MSM

Provisionally accepted
Wegene Borena Wegene Borena 1*Maria Kitchen Maria Kitchen 2Martin Gisinger Martin Gisinger 2Ninon Taylor Ninon Taylor 3Hannes Oberkofler Hannes Oberkofler 4Diyani Dewasurendra Diyani Dewasurendra 2,5Andreas Widschwendter Andreas Widschwendter 6Heribert Stoiber Heribert Stoiber 1Dorothee Von Laer Dorothee Von Laer 1Mario Sarcletti Mario Sarcletti 2
  • 1 Institute of Virology, Department of Hygiene, Microbiology and Public Health, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
  • 2 Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria
  • 3 Independent researcher, Salzburg, Austria
  • 4 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
  • 5 Manson Unit, Médecins sans Frontières UK and OCA., London, United Kingdom
  • 6 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: In this study, we characterized the HPV genotype distribution in a population of 489 adults already positive for HPV DNA. Half of the study population (n=244) was HIV positive (HIV+) men who have sex with men (MSM) on routine anal screening for sexually transmitted diseases, whereas the other half (n=245) represented women undergoing routine cervical cancer screening. Acknowledging the fact that women and MSM represent two independent circles of sexual practices, which are -largely -exclusive of each other, we were interested to determine if particular genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) disproportionately predominate in one of these circles as compared to the other. Results: HIV+ MSM are significantly more likely to be infected with multiple genotypes at a time (OR (95% CI) = 9.30 (3.91-22.1), p<0.001). Multivariable adjusted logistic regression analysis showed, further, that anal swab samples were significantly more likely to harbor lrHPV infections (OR (95% CI) = 6.67 (2.42-18.4), p<0.001), in particular, HPV 6 (OR (95%CI) = 8.92 (3.84-20.7)) as compared to cervical samples of screening women. Conclusion: Due to the considerable restriction on quality of life following recurrent anogenital warts and the accompanying predisposition to invasive anal cancer, our data adds a case on the indispensability of HPV vaccination of boys and extension of the eligibility way into adulthood among this high-risk population.

    Keywords: HIV positive MSM, HPV vaccine, high-risk HPV, low-risk HPV, Gay men, Anogenital warts, Anal HPV infection

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Borena, Kitchen, Gisinger, Taylor, Oberkofler, Dewasurendra, Widschwendter, Stoiber, Von Laer and Sarcletti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wegene Borena, Institute of Virology, Department of Hygiene, Microbiology and Public Health, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

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