Human Papillomaviruses and cervico vaginal co-infections in a population of Molise

http://api.altmetric.com/v1/ High grade HPV infections and persistence are the strongest risk factors for cervical cancer.Nevertheless other genital microrganism may be involved in the progression of HPV associated lesions. Bacterial vaginosis (BV), an alteration of vaginal flora involving a decrease in Lattobacilli and predominance of anaerobic bacteria, is the most common cause of vaginal complaints for women of childbearing age. Although the specific role of anaerobic bacteria in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer has not been fully elucidated, it has been suggested that HPV infection alone may not be sufficient for full induction of cervical carcinogenesis, and that the simultaneous presence of cervico vaginal bacteria may increase the risk of neoplastic progression. In this cross-sectional study on 356 enrolled outpatients, statistical analyses revealed a significant association of HPV with Ureaplasma urealyticum detection.Although BV was mildly associated with HPV (OR=2.4), it was more common among the HPV positive women. These data confirm that screening for genital infections may be important to reveal the simultaneous presence of different sexually transmitted microrganisms. These results suggest and emphasize the value of the screening for genital infections in HPV positive patients in order to decrease the presence of the other microrganisms and to reduce the probable synergistic effects of coinfections. Prevention is important not only to avoid other sexually transmitted disease and their sequelae, but also to reduce the influence of concomitant microrganisms on HPV infection.