Introduction:
Papillomaviruses are the main causes of cervical cancer. Objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and genotypic characteristics of cervical papillomaviruses in HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)-positive women.

Material and methods:
Prospective cross-sectional observational study among HIV-positive women at Almenara General Hospital in Peru, between November 2017 and December 2018, was conducted. HPV detection and typing was performed using a polymerase chain reaction technique that evaluated 21 genotypes, stratified according to oncogenic risk, i.e., six low-risk or non-oncogenic (6, 11, 42, 43, 44, and 81), and fifteen high-risk or truly oncogenic (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, and 68).

Results:
We evaluated 148 HIV-positive women. The overall prevalence of papillomavirus infection of the cervix was 41% (61/148). Of these infections, 75% (46/61) were caused by oncogenic genotypes, and in this risk group, 57% (26/46) of women were affected by a single papillomavirus genotype. The most frequent non-oncogenic genotypes detected were human papillomavirus (HPV)-6 in 26% (16/61) and HPV-11 in 23% (14/61) of women. The most frequent oncogenic genotypes were HPV-16 (16%; 10/61), HPV-52 (13%; 8/61), HPV-58 (13%; 8/61), HPV-53 (12%; 7/61), HPV-31 (10%; 6/61), and HPV-45 (10%; 6/61). The frequency of HPV-18 reached 5% (3/61), while concurrent infection with HPV-16/18 was detected in 3% (2/61) of patients.

Conclusions:
The prevalence of papillomavirus infection of the cervix in HIV-positive women is high in our center, with three quarters caused by oncogenic genotypes. Genotype 16 was the most frequent high-risk papillomavirus.