An Allergic Basis for Non-specific Urethritis.

The incidence of non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) or non-specific urethritis (NSU) has risen steadily during the past two decades. This has been shown both in the Ministry of Health returns from venereal disease clinics in England and Wales, and in epidemiological studies from abroad, notably those of Baier (1949) from the United States Forces in Japan, Babione and Graham (1952) from the United States Navy, Siboulet (1955) from Paris, and Gartman and Leibovitz (1955) from the United States Forces and indigent evacuees in Korea. It is also evident that, in spite of intensive study and extensive investigation, the condition remains essentially one of unknown aetiology. The purpose of this paper is to consider the possibility of this disease having an allergic rather than an infective basis: that what we know as non-specific urethritis is a demonstration by a particular male urethra of sensitivity to something normally present in, and non-pathogenic to, the genital tract of a female consort, rather than the result of exposure to some as yet unidentified infective agent harboured by this consort. Various other hypotheses have been put forward in the past, though most have either only been applicable to a small proportion of cases or have for some other reason failed to find favour. For instance, it is likely that a few cases are due to either chemical or physical trauma, while some seem likely to be due to trichomonal infection. Several workers, notably Sebastiani (1960), have stressed the psychosomatic elements of the condition. Studies of its relationship to a variety of organisms have been carried out and these will be discussed subsequently. That uncomplicated NSU might be allergic in origin so far appears to have received little consideration, although several workers have entertained the