Quantification of human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA using the Cobas 4800 system in women with and without pathological alterations attributable to the virus.

Background And Purpose: Surrogate markers such as viral load are necessary to follow the evolution of disease resulting from infection with Human Papilloma virus (HPV), especially in this era of vaccination. As such, this paper uses the automated system Cobas-4800-HPV to define viral load as number of HPV copies/cell and apply the results to clinical samples.

Study Design: A curve to determine viral load per cell was constructed from HPV plasmid and cell concentrations using the Cobas-4800-HPV system.

Factors associated with induced abortion in women prostitutes in Asturias (Spain).

Background: The aim is to investigate the factors that might be associated with the presence of induced abortion (IA) in women prostitutes in Asturias (Spain).

Methodology/principal Findings: Cross-sectional descriptive study by self-completion questionnaire of 212 women prostitutes who attended the three Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics in Asturias, between January-December 2003. The questionnaire was designed to investigate the women's perceived knowledge (what they claimed to know), their real knowledge (what they really knew), the use of contraceptive methods and socio-demographic variables.

[Knowledge and use of contraceptive methods in female sex workers in Asturias [Spain]].

Objective: To describe the knowledge and use of contraceptive methods among female sex workers in Asturias (Spain).

Methods: We performed a descriptive cross-sectional study of 212 female sex workers by means of a self-completed questionnaire.

Results: 61.