Human Papillomavirus Infection in Female Sex Workers: A Case Control Study.

BACKGROUND: To determine the association of infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and the occupation of female sex worker; and the correlation of infection with HPV with sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics of female sex workers. METHODS: We performed a case-control study of 217 female sex workers and 354 women without sex work in Durango City, Mexico. We determined the prevalence of infection with HPV in cervical samples of women using polymerase chain reaction, and HPV genotypes were determined using line probe assay. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the association between the characteristics of women and infection. RESULTS: Twelve (5.5%) of the 217 sex workers, and 10 (2.8%) of the 354 control women were positive for HPV DNA (age-adjusted OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 0.62 - 3.68; P = 0.36). Six (50.0%) of the 12 HPV DNA positive sex workers had infections with high-risk genotypes (16, 31, 33, 35, 51, 58). Seven (70%) of the 10 HPV DNA positive control women had infections with high-risk genotypes (16, 18, 56, 58, and 66). The frequency of high risk genotypes in the control women was equal with that found in the female sex workers (P = 0.41). Logistic regression analysis showed that the variable alcohol consumption was associated with HPV infection (OR = 4.0; 95% CI: 1.0 - 16.0; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: No association between HPV infection and female sex work was found in our setting. High risk HPV genotypes were prevalent among the women studied. Results can be used for the design of preventive measures against HPV infection.

Niveles de cortisol salivario como predictor de preeclampsia en adolescentes / Salivary cortisol levels as a predictor of preeclampsia in adolescentes

Objective: To determine the usefulness of salivary cortisol as a predictor of preeclampsia in adolescents.Methods: We carried out a nested case- control study. Somatometric, clinical, and biochemical data were obtainedfrom 100 healthy pregnant adolescents and salivary cortisol was measured at 8:00, 12:00, and 20:00 hours on twooccasions during pregnancy, before 20 weeks, and after 30 weeks of gestation. The cortisol values between the groupof healthy pregnant women and the group that developed preeclampsia were compared by using the Student’s t, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests. Also, the ROC curve of cortisol values and the Positive and Negative Predictive values of cortisol were estimated. Results: Values >14.9 nmol/L of cortisol were observed in the group that developed preeclampsia, providing a positive predictive value of 1 (100%). Values <10.1 nmol/L were observed in the control group, the negative predictive value was 1 (100%). The cutoff point of the ROC curve -before 20 weeks of gestation- in the members of the cohort was 13.9 nmol/L. Conclusions: The salivary cortisol values observed in the two evaluations made to each of the groups showed statistically significant differences between the groups at 8 and 12 hours of the day. The values obtained enable establishing gradients that allow separating the group of healthy women that got ill with preeclampsia from the groupthat did not develop the illness before week 20. After week 30, the cortisol gradients are established more clearly inthe group with preeclampsia and in the control group. The validation of these findings in larger samples would allowimplementing this procedure as a screening test for preeclampsia in groups of pregnant adolescents.