Abstract: OBJECTIVE To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women in Wenzhou and investigate the association between the 4977-bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA in cervical exfoliated cells and HPV infection. METHODS A total of 8 724 cervical exfoliated cell samples from women who underwent HPV testing at Wenzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from Jan. 2024 to Dec. 2024 were collected. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for HPV detection and typing. From these samples, 30 cases each of the high-risk group, low-risk group and negative control group without cervical lesions were selected randomly. Nested PCR was used to detect the 4977-bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA. RESULTS The overall detection rate of HPV was 23.35%, with a higher detection rate in outpatients (24.60%) than in the physical examination population (12.80%, P<0.001). The predominant high-risk types were HPV-52 (4.93%) and HPV-58 (2.82%). The most common low-risk type was HPV-81 (2.06%). The highest detection rate among intermediate-risk types was HPV-53 (1.87%). The multiple infection rate was 5.86%, with the combination of high-risk types HPV-52+HPV-58 being the most frequent. The top three clinical diagnoses associated with HPV detection rate were human papillomavirus infection (59.17%), cervical inflammatory disease (32.65%) and female infertility (28.79%). There was a very strong positive correlation between the infection rate of high-risk HPV and the overall HPV detection rate (R=0.978, P<0.001). The HPV detection rate initially decreased and then increased with age, with the highest detection rate (50.82%) observed in the >10 to ≤20 age group. No 4977-bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA was detected in the cervical exfoliated cells of any group without cervical lesions. CONCLUSIONS The age group >10 to ≤20 years old is at high risk of infection, with high-risk HPV-52 and HPV-58 being the main pathogenic subtypes. Multiple infections predominantly involve high-risk combinations, and no 4977-bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA is detected in cervical exfoliated cells without cervical lesions.