POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR MONITORING HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS CONTAMINATION OF MEDICAL PERSONNEL DURING TREATMENT OF GENITAL WARTS WITH CO2-LASER AND ELECTROCOAGULATION

Genital warts and intraepithelial neoplasia caused by infection with h uman papillomavirus are usually treated with CO2 laser or electrocoagu lation. In this study, contamination of personnel and operating theatr es with human papillomavirus DNA during treatment sessions was investi gated. Samples were taken from the nostrils, nasolabial folds and conj unctiva of the operating physician before and after operating sessions and from Petri dishes left open in the operating theatres. Human papi llomavirus DNA was demonstrated by the polymerase chain reaction techn ique. The results show that there is a risk of contamination of the op erator by human papillomavirus DNA, detectable with the polymerase cha in reaction technique, during both CO2 laser and electrocoagulation tr eatment.