Sexually transmitted diseases and human immunodeficiency virus infection among women with pelvic inflammatory disease.

Both human immunodeficiency virus infections and pelvic inflammatory diseases are sexually acquired illnesses of great consequence to women. This study was undertaken to determine if women hospitalized with pelvic inflammatory disease, in a community endemic for human immunodeficiency virus, were at high risk to be infected with human immunodeficiency virus and if human immunodeficiency virus infections altered their hospital course. One hundred ten women hospitalized with pelvic inflammatory disease in Brooklyn (in a hospital in which 2% of parturients are human immunodeficiency virus seropositive) agreed to human immunodeficiency virus testing; 15 (13.6%) were found to be seropositive. Seropositive women were significantly more likely to have an admission white blood cell count less than 10,000/mm3 (p = 0.001). Human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity was not associated with a higher frequency of other sexually transmitted diseases although there was a trend toward more cases of syphilis among human immunodeficiency virus-infected women. Similarly, although there was no significant difference in rates of operative intervention (26.6% among seropositive and 8.4% among seronegative; p = 0.058), there was a trend toward more surgery among those who were human immunodeficiency virus infected. Women hospitalized with pelvic inflammatory disease, in a community endemic for human immunodeficiency virus, are at high risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection. More research is needed to verify a trend toward more refractory infections among human immunodeficiency virus-infected women.