The spread of HIV epidemics globally has increasingly drawn attention to the interaction between HIV and the “classic” sexually transmitted infections (STIs). A consensus has grown that other STIs increase the spread of HIV, a hypothesis first suggested by Piot et al in 1984, following on from the early epidemiologic studies that explored the epidemiologic synergy between STIs and HIV.
However, the interaction of the many STIs with HIV is potentially complex, with the possibility of reciprocal influences on susceptibility, infectiousness, and the natural history of infections.
There is growing evidence of a significant burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and associated disease in men.
HIV infection increases HPV prevalence, incidence and persistence and is strongly associated with the development of anogenital warts and anal, penile and head and neck cancers in men. Despite increasing access to antiretroviral therapy, there appears to be little benefit in preventing the development of these cancers in HIV-positive men, making prevention of infection a priority.
The authors present a 3 years revised casuistic as a reference laboratory center in sexually transmitted infection diseases diagnosis, focusing on HPV molecular methods such as Hybrid Capture 2 (hc2, Digene) , Cobas 4800 HPV test (16/18-Cobas, Roche), Clart human papillomavirus 2 (Genomica) and PapilloCheck used for HPV diagnosis in men as well as the diagnosis of “classic” sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as Herpes Simplex virus 1 and 2,Syphilis,Gonorrhea Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma infections.
The identified prevalence of anal HPV infection was high. Emerging patterns of HPV-related disease strengthen the call for universal vaccination of boys and girls with consideration of catch-up and targeted vaccination of high-risk groups such as MSM and those with HIV infection.