RASTREAMENTO DE INFECÇÃO POR HPV EM MULHERES DO DISTRITO SANITÁRIO ESPECIAL INDÍGENA DO ARAGUAIA (DSEIA)

Abstract

The Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) is associated to cutaneous moles and chondilomas. HPV infection is the most frequent sexually transmitted disease (STD). HPV is also the main risk factor for uterine cervix cancer onset, which represents the second highest prevalence of cancer among women in Brazil. This can be applied also to the native Brazilian women of the DSEI Araguaia, to whom misinformation seams to lead to an increased transmission of the STDs, among them HPV infection. In order to screen HPV infection among those native women, we have collected 332 samples from their uterine cervices and analyzed by the Papanicolaou staining method. Our work shows that the HPV-related infection is directly associated with proximity to the surrounding non-indigenous populations, as well as to the easiness that the far away indigenous tribes have to reach the same non-indigenous populations; beyond, HPV-related infection can also be linked to the way each native race preserves and applies their cultural values. These results indicate the importance of knowing better the overall distribution and prevalence of HPV-related infection among native Brazilian women, which may lead to decreased HPV-related infection and perhaps decreased rates of uterine cervix cancer, and therefore, to a better quality of life.