Cent Eur J Public Health 2016, 24(3):176-179

Cervical Viral Infections among Asymptomatic Bulgarian Women

Jeni Staykova^1,2, Tanja Belovska¹, Ayla Murad¹, Sevinch Kakid¹, Aneta Nacheva³, Evelina Shikova⁴

¹ Regional Health Inspectorate, Kardzhali, Bulgaria

² Faculty of Public Health, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria

³ Military Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria

⁴ National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria

Aim: Although sexually transmitted viral infections are significant and increasing public health concern, little is known about their prevalence among Bulgarian women. The aim of this study was to investigate cervical viral infections in asymptomatic women.

Methods: The study group included 52 randomly selected asymptomatic female volunteers from Bulgarian border town Kardzhali. Cervical specimens were tested by real-time PCR for human papillomaviruses (HPV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Results: The investigation demonstrated a high rate (61.5%) of infection with one or more viruses of uterine cervix of participating women considered at low risk. The most prevalent was HPV, found in 32.7% of all women. The genotyping of high-risk (HR) HPV positive specimens showed that HPV16 was the most prevalent HR type. HSV prevalence (30.8%) was almost as high as that of HPV and most women were HSV1 infected. 9.6% and 5.8% of all specimens were positive for EBV and CMV, respectively.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that women from Kardzhali region, involved in this study, might be at risk for development of genital tract pathology, including cervical cancer, and for transmission of virus infection sexually and perinatally.

Keywords: women's health issues, viral infections, cervix, RT PCR, Bulgaria

Received: February 2, 2015; Revised: February 25, 2016; Accepted: February 25, 2016; Published: September 1, 2016  Show citation