Female Genital‐Tract HIV Load Correlates Inversely with<i>Lactobacillus</i>Species but Positively with Bacterial Vaginosis and<i>Mycoplasma hominis</i>

Bacteria associated with BV increase genital-tract HIV RNA levels. Quantitative bacterial counts for lactobacilli and M. hominis are better correlates of CVL HIV RNA than are Nugent score or Amsel criteria. Since plasma virus and CD4 cell levels did not differ between the BV and no-BV groups, these data suggest that the bacterial flora associated with BV influence genital-tract HIV shedding.