RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of oral lesions and its association with HIV serological status. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between 1998 and 1999 in Mexico City, among 512 subjects attending two information centers of Centro Nacional para la Prevención del VIH/SIDA e ITS (CONASIDA, National Center for Prevention of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections) for HIV serologic testing. The oral examination was performed without knowledge of the HIV status. Statistical analysis was conducted using Student's t test, Fisher's exact test and the chi 2 test; odds ratios and 95 CI were also calculated. RESULTS: A total of 512 individuals were examined, 68 of whom were HIV-positive. HIV-related oral lesions (OL), were evident in 65 (44/68) of the HIV-positive individuals; 95 of them consisted in oral candidosis (OC) and hairy leukoplakia (HL). OC and HL were strongly associated with seropositivity to HIV. CONCLUSIONS: OC and HL were the oral lesions most strongly associated to HIV seropositivity. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.