Singapore hospital launches study on HPV infections in women

SINGAPORE, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Singapore General Hospital is calling for more women to come forward to take part in its first study on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections in Singapore, local media reported on Wednesday.

HPV is a common virus linked to the development of cervical cancer, which is the sixth most common cancer among women here. The disease claims 200 lives every year in Singapore, according to local radio 938Live reports.

The study aims to enroll 1,800 healthy Singaporean women between the ages of 15 and 55 over the next six months. It has attracted 550 participants since its launch in August.

This study will determine how often women are infected by more than one subtypes of the virus and also whether certain subtypes are more likely to infect a woman at the same time.

It will also look into the risk factors for HPV infection.