Excretion of Cytomegalovirus in Semen Associated with HTLV‐III Seropositivity in Asymptomatic Homosexual Men

We studied 56 asymptomatic homosexual male volunteers in Pittsburgh for 1 1/2 yr for relationships between cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human T-lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) infections. CMV was most frequently isolated from semen (8%) as compared with throat washings (5.9%) and urine (0%) on initial testing of CMV-seropositive subjects. Other viruses commonly isolated from immunosuppressed patients (herpes simplex virus, adenovirus) were rarely detected in this cohort. Seropositivity to HTLV-III was significantly associated with isolation of CMV from semen in our asymptomatic cohort (odds ratio = 9.5, p = .008). These results suggest that HTLV-III infection is associated with selective, temporal activation of CMV in the genital tract of asymptomatic homosexual men.