HPV Risk Soars

HIV-positive women may be 10 times more likely to contract human papillomavirus'a sexually transmitted virus linked with most cases of cervical cancer'than their seronegative peers, according to a study conducted in South Africa. Because cervical cancer is an AIDS-defining opportunistic illness and among the top killers of HIV-positive women, mass HPV vaccination programs for young women around the globe, particularly those living in nations with high HIV prevalence rates, experts say, could avert thousands of future cervical cancer cases and deaths.