Study Shows Condoms Can Be Effective Against Genital Herpes

There is no denying that consistent and correct use of condoms during sexual activities can protect against unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia. However, there has been much speculation on whether or not consistent condom use could also prevent the spread of the herpes simplex virus 2. According to a new study, condoms may actually reduce the risk of contracting herpes simplex virus 2.

Herpes simplex virus 2, otherwise known as HSV-2, is what causes genital herpes. Genital herpes is a recurring virus that affects somebody for life. Many doctors and researchers have been reluctant to speak on the effectiveness of condoms when it comes to reducing the transmission of HSV-2 simply because there was not much certainty on how effective it was. This new report that is a compilation of data from several previous studies, however, has demonstrated that using condoms consistently does indeed reduce the risk of transmitting or contracting HSV-2.

This study was led by Emily Martin, Ph.D., from the University of Washington (Seattle) and the Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Along with several colleagues, she compiled and analyzed the results from six various studies on HSV-2 in order to predict how effective condoms were in keeping the virus at bay. Three of those studies analyzed dealt with different vaccines for HSV-2, one study centered on HSV-2 drugs, another study dealt with behavioral sexually transmitted infections intervention and the last study concerned observing the incidence of sexually transmitted infections. The average age of the participants in these various studies was 29 years old. 5,384 of these participants were HSV-2 negative when the studies began and over two million follow-up days were analyzed for the combined participants. Approximately 66% of the participants were male, close to 95% were heterosexual, over 60% were white and virtually all of the participants had no history of sexually transmitted infections.

In the follow-up results, 415 participants, however, had contracted HSV-2. The study states, “Consistent condom users [used 100 percent of the time] had a 30 percent lower risk of HSV-2 acquisition compared with those who never used condoms. Risk of HSV-2 acquisition decreased by 7 percent for every additional 25 percent of the time that condoms were used during anal or vaginal sex.” As a sexually active person increased the number of times they had sex without protection, naturally their risk of contracting HSV-2 increased greatly. The authors go on to state, “Based on findings of this large analysis using all available prospective data, condom use should continue to be recommended to both men and women for reducing the risk of HSV-2 acquisition. Although the magnitude of the protective effect was not as large as has been observed with other STIs, a 30 percent reduction in HSV-2 incidence can have a substantial benefit for individuals as well as a public health impact at the population level.”