Chlamydia trachomatis and Human papillomavirus infections in cervical disease in Argentine women

Objectives. To examine the prevalence of Human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis DNA in cervical samples among women with normal and abnormal cervical cytology from La Plata, Argentina. Methods. Two hundred and seventy-nine women (200 with cervical neoplasia or ICC and 79 women with normal cytology) provided cervical samples for the detection of HPV and C. trachomatis DNA by PCR-based assays. Results. HPV DNA increased with the cervical lesion severity, ranging from 30% among women with normal cytology to 99-100% among women with HSIL or ICC. C trachomatis DNA prevalence increased from low levels in women with normal cytology (11%) to 47% in those with HSIL, but was uncommon among ICC patients (20%). Among women with normal cytology, C. trachomatis prevalence was higher in HPV DNA positive (12.5%) than HPV DNA negative women (10.9%), but this difference was not significant. Conclusions. HPV prevalence in the general population is slightly higher than those reported for other developing countries. C. trachomatis DNA positivity was associated with a higher risk of both LSIL and HSIL lesions, but not with ICC. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.