Cutaneous anergy in pregnant and nonpregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus

Objective To determine the prevalence of cutaneous anergy in pregnant and nonpregnant women who are seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus. Methods and materials: The medical records of 159 women seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus were reviewed. Demographic characteristics and tuberculin skin test results were abstracted from the chart. Tuberculin skin testing was performed by the Mantoux method (5 tuberculin units of purified protein derivative injected intradermally). Anergy testing was performed using any two of the three following antigens; tetanus toxoid, mumps, or Candida skin test antigen. A positive tuberculin test was defined as induration of 5 mm or more, and a positive test for the other antigens was defined as any amount of induration over the skin test area. Anergy was defined as any amount of induration to the other antigens. A CD4+T lymphocyte count was obtained at the time of skin testing. Continuous variables were analyzed using the Mann Whitney—U test. Categorical data were analyzed with the chi‐square or Fisher's exact test as appropriate. A two‐tailed P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results There were 102 nonpregnant and 57 pregnant women who returned to have their skin test results read. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of positive, negative or anergic skin test results between groups. The CD4+T lymphocyte count (mean ± standard deviation) in patients with anergic results was similar between pregnant (375 ± 256/mm 3 ) and nonpregnant (358 ± 305/mm 3 ) women ( P = 0.64). Conclusion The prevalence of cutaneous anergy is similar among pregnant and nonpregnant women seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus. Infect. Dis. Obstet. Gynecol. 6:13–17, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.