The inter-relationship 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 (HSV-2) infection in Israel provided us with an opportunity to study a) the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 in selected groups of women; b) the correlation between the infection with HSV-2, HPV-16/18 and Papanicolaou (PAP) pathology; and c) to identify groups of women who might benefit from routine PAP screening. Four different population groups of women aged 17-60 years were studied: groups 1 and 2 comprised healthy women government employees and kibbutz and moshav residents, respectively, and groups 3 and 4 comprised Jewish and non-Jewish women with gynecological complaints. In women without gynecological problems 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 correlation between the prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies and HPV-16/18 infection 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 might benefit from continuous PAP smear screening for cervical cancer.