THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF HERPES-VIRUS, PAPILLOMA-16 18 VIRUS-INFECTION AND PAP SMEAR PATHOLOGY IN ISRAELI WOMEN/

A previous survey of the seroprevalence of the herpes Virus type 2 (HS V-2) infection in Israel provided us with an opportunity to study a) t he prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 in selected groups o f women; b) the correlation between the infection with HSV-2, HPV-16/1 8 and Papanicolaou (PAP) pathology, and c) to identify groups of women who might benefit from routine PAP screening. Four different populati on groups of women aged 17-60 years were studied: groups 1 and 2 compr ised healthy women government employees and kibbutz and moshav residen ts, respectively, and groups 3 and 4 comprised Jewish and non-Jewish w omen with gynecological complaints. In women without gynecological pro blems the prevalence of HPV-16/18 was 1.8% in group 1 and 0% in group 2. The prevalence was several-fold higher in the Jewish and non-Jewish gynecological clinic groups, 9% and 12%, respectively. There was no c orrelation between the prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies and HPV-16/18 in fection in women without gynecological problems. One of the 692 women studied had markers of both infections. The very few cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II and CIN III occurred in women who were negative for HSV-2 and HPV-16/18 infection. Thus from our limited study, it is not possible to define any group of healthy women who mi ght benefit from continuous PAP smear screening for cervical cancer.