Antiretroviral-naive women from Nairobi, Kenya with CD4 cell counts >or= 350 cells/mul had plasma and endocervical wick samples collected for HIV quantification by real-time RNA reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Vaginal and cervical Gram stains and endometrial biopsies were obtained. Vaginal Gram stain was used to diagnose bacterial vaginosis and to quantify Lactobacillus