Study: Condoms Could Prevent Herpes
June 26, 2001 -- Consistent use of condoms could prevent up to 315,000 new cases of herpes per year in women, who are six times more likely than men to be infected, a new study says.
"Up until now, we really did not have any information on the effect of condom use on the spread of genital herpes," said Anna Wald, M.D., director of the virology research clinic at the University of Washington, Seattle, and lead author of the study.
This lack of information was due to the difficulty associated with studying the effects of condom use in the population at large, she says. Other sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV, also tend to garner more attention than herpes.
Condoms Effective to Prevent Spread
"There has been actually very little movement in the public health field to combat the spread of herpes," Wald said. "There was a perception that we could do very little about it."
HSV-2, the virus that causes herpes, enters the body through tiny breaks in the skin. The disease is characterized by painful lesions on the genitalia. Once someone is infected, the lesions often recur.
Researchers have been unsure that condom use could prevent the spread of HSV-2 because the virus is usually present over areas of the genital region not protected by condoms.
But Wald found condoms to be an effective means of prevention by studying the sexual diaries of more than 500 couples in a study of a herpes vaccine that did not work. Wald compared the rate of infection in those who used condoms routinely to those who didn't. She found that of 118 people who used condoms most of the time, only two contracted herpes.
She then extrapolated her findings to make an estimate of the number of new cases each year among women — 315,000 — that could be prevented in the population at large.
The study results are published in the June 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Ralph DiClemente, professor of public health and medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, says Wald's study could change public health approaches to herpes.
"This study provides empirical evidence to suggest that indeed, condoms do serve as an effective barrier for the prevention of herpes, one of the most prevalent STDs in the United States," he said. "This is an important finding with significant policy implications as to how we do sexual education programs targeted at herpes."
One in Five Americans Infected
Recent studies suggest more than one in five Americans is infected with HSV-2. Though herpes can be treated with medication, there is no cure. Approximately 500,000 new cases occur each year.
"There is some indication that herpes is a fairly devastating disease psychologically," DiClemente said. "And the number of folks who acquire genital herpes far exceeds those who acquire HIV."
Wald says the open sores caused by herpes may even make it easier for individuals to spread HIV.
"I think there is some pretty convincing data that herpes fuels the HIV epidemic," she said. "People with herpes are more likely to acquire HIV and transmit HIV, so clearly part of the strategy of HIV prevention is to control other STDs, including genital herpes."