ABSTRACT
The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are both sexually transmitted infections, which have impacted the prevalence of cervical dysplasia and cancer in women. Infections with one of these viruses can facilitate infection with the other. In Jamaica cervical cancer is seen in 27.5 per 100, 000 women making it the second leading cause of cancer death in this population only to breast cancer as a cause of death in women with cancer. Our study investigates the seroprevalence of anti-HIV antibodies in women with abnormal pap smears in Jamaica to determine the influence of HIV on cervical dysplasia. Only patients with positive confirmatory tests were classified as HIV positive. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used for screening while the Western blot was used for confirmation. Sero-prevalence of anti-HIV antibodies in women with abnormal pap smears was 0.85%. The preliminary results of HIV seroprevalence in women with abnormal pap smears may be low in Jamaica because of the success of the HIV/AIDS programme. A larger study can be done in the future and be representative of the Jamaica population, since the present study has as a limitation a smaller number of controls in comparison to cases. The findings reported do not support the hypothesis that HPV infection facilitates HIV infection in the studied population. It is the first study of its class reported in the Caribbean. It has been postulated that HPV infections may account for the cervical dysplasia despite the low prevalence of HIV association in the women with abnormal pap smears and that persistent HPV and to a lesser extent the HIV is responsible for the prevalence of abnormal pap smears in Jamaica. A limitation of the study was that the control group was smaller than that expected for 3 million’s population but a larger study can be done in the future.
ABSTRACT
Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death from cancer among women worldwide and is the most common female cancer in developing countries. In Jamaica, at 27.5 per 100, 000 it is second only to breast cancer as a cause of cancer death in women. Several studies have suggested an association between blood type A and cervical dysplasia/cancer. The aim of this study was to determine whether presence of cervical dysplasia/cancer is associated with blood type A in Jamaican women. Blood was collected from 319 women, 234 cases (abnormal Pap smears) and 85 controls (normal Pap smears). Blood type was determined by the determination of isoagglutinins (anti-A and anti-B). The frequency of types A, B, AB and O in the controls and cases was similar to the Jamaican population. There was a slightly association between blood group O and cervical dysplasia/ carcinoma in Jamaican women when compared with others blood groups. Cervical dysplasia/ carcinoma was strongly associated to the number of sexual partners, number of biological fathers, number of children and the use of hormonal contraceptive.
ABSTRACT
Background: Detection of red blood cells antibodies is important for the diagnosis of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, hemolytic disease of newborn, pre-transfusion testing and other problems. The aim of this study was to use Staphylococcal protein A (SpA) and Streptococcal protein G (SpG) as reagents in immunological tests for detecting red blood cells (RBC) antibodies and to compare the method with other techniques. Study Design & Methods: Sera from 60 patients, comprising forty-four anti-D positive sera from pregnant women and 16 from healthy controls were, used for the study. The anti-globulin gel test and the standard Coombs’ test were used to determine RBC antibodies in these sera and the result were compared with that of protein A and protein G tests. Results: With various degree of agglutination all 4 techniques detected the presence of RBC antibodies (anti-D) in the sera from 44 pregnant women, and tested negative for the remaining 16 sera (from healthy controls). The sensitivity and the specificity of the 4 techniques was 100%. Conclusions: This preliminary study demonstrates that both SpA and SpG tests can be used for the detection of RBC antibodies and therefore requires more study and testing before they can become useful standard tests in transfusion medicine.