Low prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in HIV‐1 seropositive African women

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Abstract
In Nairobi (Kenya) 334 women prostitutes of whom 80.5% were HIV‐1 positive, were examined for oral mucosal lesions; 15.6% of seropositive, and 4.6% of seronegative, women had oral mucosal lesions, predominantly oral candidiasis. In the seropositives, 8.6% had erythematous, 1.1% had hyperplastic candidiasis, and 0.4% had hairly leukoplakia as the only oral lesions; 0.4% had a combination of erythematous and hyperplastic candidiasis, and 1.5% had combinations of pseudomembranous and erythematous candidiasis in the presence of hairly leukoplakia. Of the 211 seropositive women for whom we knew the first date on which a positive serologic test was obtained, the likelihood of developing an oral mucosal lesion was found to be dependent on the duration of seropositivity. The low incidence of oral mucosal lesions in this population may be due to the relatively recent acquisition of HIV‐1 infection.