OBJECTIVES: The assessment of the prevalence of antibodies to human papillomaviruses (HPV) in the healthy population is essential for effective planning of HPV vaccine implementation into the preventive programmes for HPV-associated diseases and for the prospective monitoring of the impact of HPV vaccines in the Czech population. METHODS: The seropositivity for HPV-6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 virus-like particles was determined in sera from 3150 healthy individuals (age range 6-76 years) by means of enzyme-linked immunoassay. RESULTS: The seroprevalences for HPV-6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 were 23.8%, 15.2%, 14.5%, 9.9%, 16.4% and 9.6% in women and 18.4%, 13.7%, 6.5%, 5.4%, 6.1% and 4.3% in men. For both genders, except for HPV11, these rates were age dependent. The prevalence of antibodies to HPV-16 and/or 18 reached the maximum of 27.0% in women 30-39 years of age and of 14.4% in men 50-59 years of age. The highest proportion of individuals' seropositive for any of the vaccine types HPV-6/11/16/18 was in 30- to 39-year-old women (50.0%) and in ≥ 60-year-old men (37.6%). Antibodies specific for vaccine HPV types were detected in 18.0% of children 6- to 14-year-old but in 26.4%, those older than 14 years. CONCLUSIONS: The data reveal age-specific differences in the HPV seropositivity rates between healthy women and men and support the implementation of HPV vaccination in the Czech Republic before the age of 13.

• MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay MeSH
• Papillomavirus Infections epidemiology   MeSH
• Infant MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Papillomaviridae immunology   MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Antibodies, Viral blood   MeSH
• Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Seroepidemiologic Studies MeSH
• Age Factors MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Infant MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic epidemiology   MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Antibodies, Viral MeSH