Condom use decreases risk of HPV in newly sexually active women

Consistent condom use by their male partners appears to reduce the risk of human papillomavirus, or HPV, infection in newly sexually active women, a study reports today.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the USA. Certain HPV types cause nearly all cervical cancer cases, and others cause genital warts.

The new study, in The New England Journal of Medicine, followed 82 female college undergraduates who reported their first intercourse with a male partner during the study or within two weeks of its start. The women had pelvic exams and HPV and Pap tests every four months. They also completed a Web-based diary about their sexual behavior every two weeks.

Women whose partners always used a condom were 70% less likely to acquire an HPV infection than women whose partners used condoms less than 5% of the time, the University of Washington researchers found.

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