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.
Keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; HPV51; cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; human papillomavirus; sexually transmitted diseases.