Human papillomavirus type 16 viral load is higher in human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions than in those with normal cytology smears

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) viral load in cervicovaginal lavage samples collected from 66 human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women was inversely correlated with blood CD4 count (P = 0.002). HPV-16 viral load was 81-fold higher in women with cervical smears suggestive of high-grade lesions (median, 4,425,883 copies/mug of DNA) than in women with normal smears (median, 54,576), controlling for age (P = 0.006).