The journal Lancet Infectious Diseases has recently published the result of a new study which concluded that vaginal bacteria may increase HIV risk in women, as well as some bacteria may decrease it.
Seven bacteria species may considerably increase HIV risk in women
Researchers have gathered the data from the past years collected by the AIDS researchers.
The results of the study, that some bacteria in the vagina may increase HIV risk in women, are considered to open the roads to a better acknowledgment of the biological circumstances that prone to HIV infection, which may eventually offer the foundations for the HIV-prevention researches.
Not less than seven bacteria species have been found to increase HIV-infection risk in women. Among them, though, one’s connection to a greater HIV risk is the most evident. Scientists observed that a very common bacteria, Parvimonas Type 1, may greatly increase HIV risk in women if it is found in high numbers in the vaginal bacterial flora.
The more bugs, the more HIV-infection risks
Three more bacteria species acted similarly to Parvimonas Type 1 hence, the researchers concluded that HIV risk is directly correlated with the number of the bacteria in the vagina. Therefore, the risks of contracting HIV is higher for the women who present large numbers of vaginal bacteria in comparison with women who have normal vaginal bacterial flora.
The study’s statistics
The study was conducted using the data collected by previous studies conducted in six African nations where the incidence of HIV infections in women represents 56% of all the registered HIV infections.
Researchers took 87 samples from already infected African women and compared the results with those of the 262 samples from not infected women using a very complex procedure for comparing the vaginal bacterial flora of the two groups.
The study, which concluded that vaginal bacteria may increase HIV risk in women, is very important for the poor sub-Saharan African nations where the incidence of HIV case is the biggest on the planet. Doctors hope that in the near future new prevention methods will be found.
