Human papillomavirus and pregnancy: A narrative review study

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexual transmitted infection. The persistence of HPV infection causes different types of anogenital and oropharyngeal cancer. HPV infection during pregnancy may be associated with several adverse consequences, such as preterm birth and miscarriage. The present study was performed with aim to investigate the relationship between HPV infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes in different studies.

In this narrative review, to find relevant articles, PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched using the keywords HPV, Papillomavirus, HPV in Pregnancy, HPV Transmission and Adverse outcomes from 2000 to 2022. For this purpose, original research articles, clinical trials, reviews and case reports related to the subject of this review were included in the study and unrelated studies were excluded. The review of the articles was done by reading the title, abstract and content, respectively. The language on the admission papers was English.

The results of the different studies have shown that the risk of HPV infection in pregnant women is higher than in non-pregnant women. Also, the risk of preterm birth and preterm premature rupture of the membranes is reported to be higher in HPV positive pregnant women in comparison with HPV negative women. Some studies have also pointed to the relationship between HPV infection and spontaneous fetal death.

Considering many complications of HPV infection in pregnant women, it is better to ensure about non-infection with this virus before pregnancy.