Biomedical subjects
E Hassen
Publications and source records attributed to E Hassen.
Cervical human papillomavirus infection in Tunisian women.
BACKGROUND: It is well established that certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are the sexually transmitted agents etiologically linked to cervical cancer. Sexual habits have been shown to be a major determining factor for HPV infection. A large study was carried out to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with cervical infection with HPV in Tunisian women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PCR and restriction enzyme digestion were used to characterize HPV cervical infection in 106 Tunisian married women and 51 legal prostitutes. Epidemiological data were collected and correlated with HPV molecular genotyping. RESULTS: There was a higher relative frequency of HPV-DNA in prostitutes (39%) than in married women (14%) (p = 0.001). Molecular analyses of HPV types showed the most prevalent type in prostitutes to be HPV-16, a high-risk oncogenic type. In married women, the most prevalent type was HPV-6 which is associated with a low risk for cervical cancer. HPV-DNA detection was markedly increased in young adult women and in those having recent sexual experience. CONCLUSION: Cervical HPV infection in Tunisia is less frequent than in other African countries, but far from uncommon. The decrease of HPV prevalence in older women, regardless of their sexual behavior, may result from an efficient immune response acquired with age.
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[Detection and molecular typing of human papillomaviruses: prevalence of cervical infection in the Tunisian central region].
There are compelling molecular and epidemiological data which indicate that infection with certain genital human papillomaviruses (HPVs), such as HPV 16 and HPV 18, has a critical role in initial changes that lead to cervical and probably other anogenital cancers. These observations prompted us to investigate the prevalence of cervical infection with genital human papillomaviruses in Tunisia. We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect and type HPV DNA. The prevalence of HPV infection in a population of 106 Tunisian women recruited at the Offices Nationaux de la Famille et de Population (ONFP) was 13.6%. Molecular HPV typing indicated a high prevalence of HPV at high oncogenic risk; Our results indicate that the infection with genital human papillomaviruses is frequent in the Tunisian population.