CLINICAL AND SUBCLINICAL CONDYLOMA - RATES AMONG MALE SEXUAL PARTNERSOF WOMEN WITH GENITAL HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION

Sixty-three regular male sexual partners of women with proven genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection or its associated lesions were ex amined by colposcopy and biopsy (when necessary) to determine the prev alence of penile condyloma among them. Fifteen (24%) were found to hav e histologic evidence of condyloma. The severity of the women's lesion s did not necessarily reflect that of lesions found in their sexual pa rtners. The majority (54%) of the HPV-associated lesions were located on the penile body, followed by the penile root (25%). We found no cas es of premalignant or malignant penile lesions. After controlling for the confounding factors of socioeconomic status and lesion location an d comparing the data to those compiled from the English-language liter ature, we arrived at various theories about the very low rate of infec tion in our population. One possibility is the protective effect of ci rcumcision, partly because the preputium is a major site of bacterial and viral colonization. The possibility of different strains of HPV in the Jewish Israeli population and certain socioeconomic factors that may limit the spread of sexually transmitted diseases may be the basis for future study.