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Consistent condom use limited HPV spread in new heterosexual couples
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Among young adults, consistent condom use limited the spread of HPV in newly formed heterosexual partnerships, according to researchers from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network in Toronto and McGill University in Quebec, Canada.
“This finding … is in support of broader sexual health programs that promote condom use to prevent infection with sexually transmitted infections,” the researchers wrote in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Ideally, high vaccine coverage will have the most potential to limit ongoing transmission in sexual networks, at least for vaccine-preventable types, given the high vaccine efficacy observed in trials.”
The researchers used data from the HITCH study for an analysis of HPV transmission between heterosexual partnerships. This study included women aged 18 to 24 years and their new male partners from 2006 to 2010. The cohort included 482 dyads, and the researchers evaluated prevalence ratios and risk factors.
Most women were unvaccinated (88%), and 67% of the dyads had a partner with HPV. In 49% of the dyads, both partners had HPV. In 5% to 9% of the couples, at least one partner was in their first vaginal relationship or had concurrent partners. HPV was least prevalent in dyads in their first vaginal relationship but was present in 96% of dyads in which both partners had concurrent partners. In the partnerships where both partners had 10 or more sexual partners, all had HPV. The researchers found that dyads that always used condoms with previous partners were 27% less likely to have HPV.
“We encourage ongoing epidemiologic monitoring of HPV in sexual networks, particularly in populations with suboptimal HPV vaccine coverage for which HPV will likely become concentrated in core groups,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: Two researchers have financial relationships with Bayers, Merck, Merck-Frosst Canada, Roche and Scimetrika.
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