Human papillomavirus types in HIV seropositive men with penile warts in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Few data exist regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV) types in penile warts (PW) of HIV-infected men in Africa. Nurses collected penile swabs for HPV typing from 74 HIV-positive men with PW. HPV genotyping was performed using the Roche Linear Array Test. Analysis was performed on data relating to 74 samples. The mean age of the men was 36.0 years and 78.5% (51/65) were uncircumcised. Of the 73/74 validated results, all tested positive for HPV; 42.5% (31/73) and 32.9% (24/73) had HPV types 6 and 11, respectively. 84.9% of men tested positive for any oncogenic type: 20/73 (27.4%) were positive for type 16, 11/73 (15.1%) were positive for type 18 and 8/73 (11.0%) men had both types. Our study shows a high prevalence (68.5%) of HPV type 6 and/or 11 in this male population with PW. Given the poor availability of treatment, a quadrivalent vaccine for men may have significant benefit.