Clinical, subclinical, and latent human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are distinguished from HPV-associated neoplasia. Besides HPV additional cofactors are necessary to transform HPV infected tissue to intraepithelial or invasive neoplasia. Risk factors for the presence of HPV are high number of sexual partners, early cohabitarche, young age at first delivery, suppression and alteration of im...

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the leading sexually transmitted bacterial infection. The continued global burden of CT infection strongly predicates the need for a vaccine to supplement current chlamydial control programs. The correlates of protection against CT are currently unknown, but they must be carefully defined to guide vaccine design. The localized nature of chlamydial infection in colu...

Th1 cells and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production play critical roles in protective immunity against genital tract infections by Chlamydia trachomatis. Here we show that inducible costimulatory molecule (ICOS)(-/-) mice develop greatly augmented host resistance against chlamydial infection. Protection following a primary infection was characterized by strong Th1 immunity with enhanced CD4(+...

Genital herpes is an intractable disease caused mainly by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2), and is a major concern in public health. A previous infection with HSV type 1 (HSV-1) enhances protection against primary HSV-2 infection to some extent. In this study, we evaluated the ability of HF10, a naturally occurring replication-competent HSV-1 mutant, to protect against genital infectio...

Efforts to develop vaccines that can elicit mucosal immune responses in the female genital tract against sexually transmitted infections have been hampered by an inability to measure immune responses in these tissues. The differential expression of adhesion molecules is known to confer site-dependent homing of circulating effector T cells to mucosal tissues. Specific homing molecules have been ...

OBJECTIVES Pregnant women are especially at risk of developing complications when infected with reproductive tract infections (RTIs). The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and genital mycoplasmas in pregnant women and investigate the associations between BV, genital mycoplasmas, HIV infection, age and gestational age. DESIGN Cross-sectional st...

The ability of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to adoptively immunize mice against Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the mouse genital tract was studied. Adoptive transfer experiments were performed with splenic CD4+ or CD8+ T cells obtained from mice following resolution of a primary genital tract infection and after a secondary chlamydial challenge. The results show that donor CD4+ T cells, but not CD...

A case of herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis in a neonate after delivery from a woman whose genital HSV infection had been treated with acyclovir is reported. The main approach to prevent genital HSV infection in the neonate is interruption of transmission at the time of delivery. Guidelines for prophylactic therapy with acyclovir have been established, but the risk of neonatal infection r...

Ulcerative balanoposthitis associated with non-syphilitic spirochaetal infection was found in 41 (12%) of 344 consecutive men with genital ulcer disease in two clinics in South Africa. All patients with non-syphilitic spirochaetal infection were uncircumcised. Non-syphilitic treponemes were seen in only two of 60 uncircumcised men who had urethritis without genital ulceration. In 14 patients wi...