Condom use and HPV
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Results published in the June 22 New England Journal of Medicine suggest that condoms effectively reduce the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) transmission. Investigators Rachel Winer, PhD, University of Washington, et al., report that women whose partners used condoms for all instances of intercourse over an eight-month period were 70% less likely to acquire a new infection than women whose partners used condoms less than 5% of the time. None of the women who reported always using condoms developed HPV lesions during the study period. Data also suggests that condom use aids in the prevention of high-grade cervical neoplasia and invasive cervical cancer, but larger data sets are needed to confirm these trends, the authors say. The investigation sheds light on questions raised by Congress about the accuracy of condom labeling for HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases (1"The Gray Sheet" Nov. 14, 2005, p. 17)...