ABSTRACT Background: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) can be caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites. The World Health Organization estimated more than 300 million new global cases of curable STIs among individuals of reproductive age. Infection by Trichomonas vaginalis is one of the most prevalent curable STL Despite the current treatments available, the diagnosis of T. vaginalis can be difficult, and the resistance to the treatment increased concern for the healthcare system. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with Trichomonas vaginalis infection among women of reproductive age attending community-based services for cervical screening. Patients and methods: A total of 1477 reproductive-aged women attending 18 Primary Health Care Units in Botucatu, Brazil, from September to October 2012, were enrolled. A structured questionnaire was used for individual face-to-face interviews for obtaining data on sociodemographic, gynecologic, and obstetrics history, sexual and hygiene practices, among others. Cervicovaginal samples were obtained for detection of T. vaginalis by culture using Diamond's medium and microscopic vaginal microbiota classification according to Nugent. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out to estimate Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) for the association between participants’ sociodemographic, behavioral factors, and clinical factors with T. vaginalis infection. Results: Median age of study participants was 33 years (ranging from 18 to 50). The overall prevalence of T. vaginalis infection was 1.3% (n = 20). Several factors were independently associated with T. vaginalis infection, such as self-reporting as black or Pardo for ethnicity (OR = 2.70; 95% CI 1.03–7.08), smoking (OR=3.18; 95% CI 1.23–8.24) and having bacterial vaginosis (OR = 4.01; 95%CI = 1.55–10.38) upon enrollment. A protective effect of higher educational level (having high school degree) was observed (OR = 0.16; 95% CI 0.05–0.53). Conclusions: Our data suggest that screening programs to correctly detect T. vaginalis infection can be helpful to guide prevention strategies to the community. Our study supports an association between abnormal vaginal microbiota and T. vaginalis infection.

Abstract: Variable rates of HPV infection have been reported in healthy oral mucosa worldwide. The main objective of this study was to detect and genotype HPV infection in users and nonusers of drugs with clinically healthy mucosa from the Northeast Brazil. Samples from 105 patients were amplified using the primers MY09/MY11 and GP5+/GP6+, and genotyping was performed by multiplex-PCR for HPV-6/11, 16 and 18. A total of 81.9% samples were positive. Among drug users, 84.5% presented the virus and 20.4% showed multiple infections. Among non-drug users, 78.7% were positive and 13.5% had multiple infections. Limited information is available on oral HPV in Brazilian population, especially for drug users, and our results showed higher HPV infection rates in both users and nonusers of drugs. More studies and researches focused on drug users including factors like sexual behavior, nutrition and cultural habits are necessary to enhance the comprehension of this relationship, and develop preventive strategies.

Abstract The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oral carcinogenesis is still controversial as detection rates of the virus in oral cavity reported in the literature varies greatly. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of HPV infection and its genotypes in patients with oral lesions at the Ambulatory of Oral Diagnosis of the Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil. Material and Methods We conducted a molecular study with 21 patients (15 females) aged from two to 83 years with clinically detectable oral lesions. Samples were collected through exfoliation of lesions and HPV-DNA was identified using MY09/11 and GP5+/6+ primers. Genotyping was performed by multiplex PCR. Results Benign, premalignant and malignant lesions were diagnosed by histopathology. HPV was detected in 17 samples. Of these, HPV-6 was detected in 10 samples, HPV-18 in four and HPV-16 in one sample. When samples were categorized by lesion types, HPV was detected in two papilloma cases (2/3), five carcinomas (5/6), one hyperplasia (1/1) and nine dysplasia cases (9/11). Conclusion Unlike other studies in the literature, we reported high occurrence of HPV in oral lesions. Further studies are required to enhance the comprehension of natural history of oral lesions.