Evaluation of the Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus in Asymptomatic Patients at the Women?s Clinic in Hamadan and Comparing the 2 Methods of Pap Smear and PCR in Detecting the Virus

Objectives: Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a group of non-enveloped viruses which contain double-stranded DNA, and have widespread prevalence in human populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HPV in asymptomatic patients at the Women?s Clinic in Hamadan and compare the two techniques of Pap smear and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in detecting the virus. Materials and Methods: This epidemiologic study was carried out on 1770 asymptomatic patients at the Women?s Clinic in Hamadan. After collecting the cell samples from the cervical areas, they were placed in a pre-prepared medium by a physician and divided into two sections after being sent to the laboratory; the first part was for Pap smear and the second for PCR. If there was a viral genome, it could be determined by PCR. People who were HPV + were candidates for typing. Results: The results of the present study showed that out of 1770 patients aged between 14 and 60 years, referred to Hamadan health centers, 271 patients (15.31%) had HPV. Among them, the highest number of HPV+ cases belonged to the age group of 31-40 years, with the lowest number belonging to the age group of 15-20 years old. Furthermore, out of 271 HPV + patients, 111 (40.09%) had abnormal Pap smear and more than 90% had HPV infection, while less than 10% had low risk (LR) HPV. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the prevalence of HPV in Hamadan health centers was relatively high. According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that the use of PCR along with Pap smear can help the patients with diagnosis and better treatment.