Association of infections with human immunodeficiency virus and human papillomavirus in Honduras.

The etiologic role of the oncogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of cervical cancer has been widely proven. Since this cancer occurs more frequently in immunosuppressed individuals, we sought to evaluate the prevalence of HPV infection among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and HIV-noninfected prostitutes in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Cervical scrapes were collected from 23 HIV-seropositive and 28 HIV-seronegative prostitutes for HPV DNA detection by the polymerase chain reaction. Fifty-six percent of the HIV-seropositive women and only 18% of the seronegative women were HPV DNA positive (odds ratio = 6.0). In addition, there was a significant association between seropositivity for HIV with a history of sexually transmitted diseases (P < 0.01). Our data confirm the association between infections with HIV and HPV.