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Background: The Gardnerella vaginalis infection in HIV-infected women may increase their infectiousness and susceptibility genital. We sought to determine the prevalence of infection by G. vaginalis in HIV/AIDS women and associated factors.
Methods: Sectional study (2009-2011) of women infected with HIV/AIDS in AIDS clinic, Amazonas, Brazil. A questionnaire was composing for demographic, behavioral and clinical variables. Exudate collected from the bottom of vaginal fornix for diagnosing G. vaginalis by Gram stain and cervical samples for HPV/Capture Híbrida2v2 and cytology test. Analysis included frequency distribution, median and interquartile range/IQR. Prevalence of infection was estimated by the presence of positive test (95%CI). Associations test, Chi-square. The study was approved by the Ethics in Research Committee (1962-2009/FMT-HVD).
Results: 333 (89.03%) of 374 women were included in the study. G. vaginalis was detected in 121 (36.3%) cases. Of this total, 75 (67.0%) were coinfected with HPV, 14 (12.5%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade I (CIN) and 1 (0.9%) CIN-II/III, 66 (56.4%) had viral load HIV-1 >1,000 copies/ml (p-value = 0.005). The most frequent age group 30-39 years (51/42.1%), median: 32 (IQR-38/27), 62(51.2%) had more than 9 years of education, 60 (49.6%) were married, 67 (55.4%) had income of 1 BMI, 108 (89.3%) were non-smokers, 62 (51.7%) had their first sexual intercourse with age >16 years, 82 (81.2%) used condoms with their partners and 81 (66.9%) as a contraceptive method, 20 (16.7%) were sex workers, 79 (67.0%) had anal sex practices and 4 (3.4%) homosexuals, 73 (60.6%) had vaginal discharge, 62 (51.2%) vaginal itching and 68 (56.2%) pelvic pain, 34 (28.3%) had CD4+ counts between 201-349 cells/mm3, 61 (50.8%) had AIDS.
Conclusions: Infection with G. vaginalis in HIV/AIDS women shows their susceptibility to genital infections through sexual transmission. Co-infection by HPV, and presence of CIN, reinforces the urgent need for specific prevention of STD in this population.