Ja. Bernstein et al., PREVALENCE OF HUMAN SEMINAL PLASMA HYPERSENSITIVITY AMONG SYMPTOMATICWOMEN, Annals of allergy, asthma, & immunology, 78(1), 1997, pp. 54-58
Background: Experience with human seminal plasma hypersensitivity in t
he last decade has led to increased physician awareness of symptoms co
nsistent with human seminal plasma sensitization in women. Incidence a
nd prevalence of human seminal plasma hypersensitivity in women are un
known. Objective: A questionnaire survey was distributed to determine
the prevalence of human seminal plasma hypersensitivity among a popula
tion of women suspected of having this disorder. Methods: A questionna
ire designed to elicit age, symptoms, duration of symptoms, number of
sexual partners, time to onset of symptoms after first human seminal p
lasma exposure, onset of symptoms after first intercourse, recent gyne
cologic procedures, history of atopy, vaginitis, food or drug allergy
and family history of atopy was distributed to 1,073 women who suspect
ed they had symptoms consistent with human seminal plasma hypersensiti
vity. Women were considered ''possible'' for human seminal plasma hype
rsensitivity if they reported two or more symptoms consistent with loc
alized or systemic human seminal plasma hypersensitivity. Women were c
onsidered ''probable'' for disease if they fulfilled the ''ultimate cr
iterion'' defined as complete prevention of symptoms with a condom. Wo
men with ''possible'' localized or systemic human seminal plasma hyper
sensitivity who had persistent symptoms despite use of a condom served
as cohort control groups. Results: Two-hundred sixty-six women report
ed symp;toms ''possible'' for human seminal plasma hypersensitivity (8
8 localized and 178 systemic). When the ''ultimate criterion'' was app
lied, 130 (46 localized and 84 systemic) of the 266 women were identif
ied as having ''probable'' human seminal plasma hypersensitivity. The
responses to most of the questions from each group were very similar.
A significantly shorter time interval to symptom onset after initial h
uman seminal plasma exposure was more common for women with ''probable
'' localized human seminal plasma hypersensitivity compared with their
cohort control group (49 months versus 108 months; P < .02) whereas a
significantly increased number of women with ''probable'' systemic hu
man seminal hypersensitivity gave positive food allergy histories comp
ared with their cohort control group (31 versus 20; P < .05). Atopy di
d not appear to be a risk factor for human seminal plasma hypersensiti
vity. Conclusions: Evaluation of women with symptoms suggestive of hum
an seminal plasma hypersensitivity using a validated questionnaire ind
icates that this disorder is more common than previously recognized.