Guinea pigs inoculated intravaginally with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) developed a self-limiting infection characterized by vesiculo-ulcerative lesions on the external genital skin, urinary retention, and hindlimb paralysis. Infection rarely resulted in death. Virologic, histologic, and immunoperoxidase data suggested the following scheme for viral pathogenesis: initial replication in the introitus, vagina, and bladder; spread via sensory nerves to the lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord, and transmission via peripheral nerves to the external genital skin to produce the characteristic lesions. After recovery from primary infection, animals developed recurrent vesicular lesions, shed virus from genital sites in the absence of lesions, and harbored latent HSV-2 in dorsal root ganglia. Genital infection in the guinea pig shares many features with genital herpes in humans and provides a model to explore mechanisms of latency and reactivation and to evaluate several methods for control of recurrent disease.

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Personal cigarette smoking and exposure to passive smoke as risk factors for cervical cancer were examined in a population-based, case-control study conducted in Utah. Personal cigarette smoking was found to increase the risk of cervical cancer, after adjusting for age, educational level, church attendance, and sexual activity. The adjusted risk estimate associated with being a current smoker was 3.42 (95% confidence interval [Cl], 2.10 to 5.57); for having smoked for 5 or more pack-years, it was 2.81 (95% Cl, 1.73 to 4.55); and for having smoked at least 100 lifetime cigarettes, it was 2.21 (95% Cl, 1.44 to 3.39). The adjusted risk estimate (also adjusted for actual cigarettes smoked) associated with passive smoke exposure for 3 or more hours per day was 2.96 (95% Cl, 1.25 to 7.03). Risk from passive smoking was greater in women who were not smokers (odds ratio, 3.43; 95% Cl, 1.23 to 9.54) than in women who smoked (odds ratio, 2.59; 95% Cl, 0.23 to 29.24).

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