{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T16:56:35Z","timestamp":1783011395320,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781740800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Glob. Women\u2019s Health"],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Emerging evidence indicates that bacterial vaginosis (BV) plays a role in high-risk Human Papillomavirus (hr-HPV) infection. However, the BV\/hr-HPV association is still an under-explored concept in Africa, a region overburdened by the highest prevalence of both infections and cervical cancer in the world. Additionally, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding which specific hr-HPV genotypes contribute to this association in Africa. The objective of this study was to investigate whether BV is significantly associated with hr-HPV infection in Africa, with particular emphasis on the specific hr-HPV genotypes contributing to this association.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n This publication is based on a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from an ongoing cohort study. A total of 498 women met the eligibility criteria and were screened for BV, hr-HPV, and cervical lesions at baseline between July 2022 and November 2023. Logistic regression, C\n hi<\/jats:italic>\n -square tests, and\n t<\/jats:italic>\n tests were used to investigate associations among hr-HPV genotypes, BV, cytology results, and other risk factors. In all tests, a\n p<\/jats:italic>\n -value of &lt;0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The BV infection and hr-HPV infection rates were 24.7% (123\/498) and 28.1% (140\/498), respectively. Almost one-tenth (49\/498) of the enrolled women had BV\/hr-HPV coinfection. A significant association between BV and pooled hr-HPV status (inclusive of the HPV-16, -18, -31, -33, -35, -39, -45, -51, -52, -56, -58, -59, -66, and -68 genotypes) was confirmed in this study (aOR\u2009=\u20092.38, 95% CI: 1.48\u20133.81),\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009&lt;\u20090.001). BV was significantly associated with HPV-39 and HPV-52 genotypes (aOR: 3.23, 95% CI: 1.37\u20137.64,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009=\u20090.007) and (aOR: 5.38, 95% CI: 1.17\u201324.74;\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009=\u20090.03), respectively. HPV-16 and HPV-68 were significantly associated with abnormal Pap smears (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009=\u20090.046 and\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009=\u20090.001, respectively).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n BV was found to be significantly associated with pooled hr-HPV status, HPV-39, and HPV-52 infection in Kenyan women. These findings underscore the importance of treating BV promptly, as doing so may help minimize hr-HPV infection.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fgwh.2026.1816885","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T05:35:23Z","timestamp":1781760923000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Bacterial vaginosis and specific high-risk human papillomavirus genotype infection: a cross-sectional study in Nairobi, Kenya"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Raymond","family":"Chibvongodze","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi","place":["Nairobi, Kenya"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mutinda Cleophas","family":"Kyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology","place":["Nairobi, Kenya"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucy","family":"Muchiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi","place":["Nairobi, Kenya"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0267571","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0267571","article-title":"Prevalence and determinants of late-stage presentation among cervical cancer patients, a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"17","author":"Tekalign","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B2","year":"2023"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.29063\/ajrh2022\/v26i11.2","article-title":"Prevalence of cervical cancer in Ain Defla region 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