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After returning from the Gulf War in the early 1990s, some veterans noticed burning and swelling of the urogenital tract after exposure to their semen; accordingly, some female sexual partners of veterans noticed such symptoms after semen exposure. This "burning semen syndrome" is similar to the symptoms that some women experience minutes after contact with semen, as a result of hypersensitivity to seminal plasma proteins; such symptoms are thought to be mediated by IgE. In this study, 211 Gulf War couples (i.e., male veterans and their female partners) with symptoms suggestive of burning semen syndrome completed questionnaires; 67 women who either reported that condom use prevented their symptoms or did not answer the question about condom…