Co-infection between genotypes of the human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis in Mexican women

Abstract

Not all human papillomavirus (HPV) infections develop into cervical cancer (CC), so it is proposed that other factors may influence this, such as co-infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (CT). To identify the prevalence of co-infection, we included 189 women with suspicion of HPV. Viral typing was performed by carrying out the Roche HP Linear Array test, while CT detection was performed with the COBAS® TaqMan® 48 kit from Roche. Of the 189 women only 184 had an infection with HPV, CT or both: 56.6% were positive for one or several HPV genotypes, and 67.7% for CT. Clinical data showed an association between HPV and CIN I (n = 22; RR = 2.43; 95% CI 1.72–3.43, p < 0.05). CT infection was only associated with cervicitis (n = 40; RR = 1.73; 95% CI 1.34–2.23, p < 0.05). The CT-HPV co-infection rate was 28%. Co-infection revealed an association with CIN I (n = 31, RR= 3.33; 95% CI 2.08–5.34 p < 0.05), CIN III (n = 7; RR = 2.57; 95% CI 1.53–4.31, p < 0.05); and a significant risk of 2.3 (95% CI 1.08–4.90) times higher to develop CC; nevertheless, this risk was not statistically significant. CT/HPV co-infection was associated with the development of a high-grade lesion (CIN III) as well as an important risk for developing CC.