[Question #8237] Female condom
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47 months ago
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Hello miss terri.i have more questions. Since i found out that my boyriend has hsv2 and me not, i had 5 times protected vaginal sex with him 1 with male condom 2 times with female condom and 1 time started with female condom that stayed glued on his penis and got pulled out so we changed with a male condom. Does this event compromise my safety?The three last times were in the same 24h.He didnt have any lesions but what about asymptomatic shedding? Does the asymptomatic shedding happens all along the shaft or where was the lesion i saw? Because lesion on the base which doesnt get covered by condom. I dont know if he has herpes longtime or now to evaluate the frequency of shedding.him neither. Does the female protect me better? Did those encounters lead to me getting infected?the frequency is dangerous also?i m so afraid everytime that i will get herpes and i m 40 and unmarried without children and i feel lost.he had his life. I dont think its my lifetime partner but he seems nice ...how easily can i get infected with a condom in this situation?am i putting myself in danger because i cant make up my mind to separate or not?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
47 months ago
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As long as it was "glued" to his penis, you should be fine. It does not compromise your safety.
In men, asymptomatic shedding most often occurs on the shaft of the penis, which can be nicely and effectively covered with a condom. The female condom may well be more effective for lesions that appear at the base of the condom. We have no research on that however, just common sense about what gets covered.
Male condoms reduce transmission by 96%, which is very effective.
This decision must be yours, weighing all the pros and cons. It's not easy, I know.
Terri
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47 months ago
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thank you so much for your answer . I came across this on the internet "A 2015 study conducted by Amalia S. Magaret and others in eastern and southern Africa clearly demonstrated the per-act effectiveness of condom use. It showed that proper condom use prevents infection in 96% of infected-male/herpes-free-female and 65% of infected-female/herpes-free-male sexual encounters. However, over the long term, condom use resulted in only a 30% reduction in herpes transmission. Some studies have shown up to 40%–50% protection, depending on other risk factors that lead to herpes transmission, including the presence of other sexually transmitted infections, gender, and the frequency of sex acts." from https://stdcenterny.com/articles/protected-herpes-transmission.html with reference to articles https://dx.doi.org/10.1001%2Farchinternmed.2009.177 and https://dx.doi.org/10.1093%2Fcid%2Fciv908
what do you think ? what does it mean? frequent protected sex much more than twice per week like every day, changes the probability of tranmission from male to female to 30% (which is equal to no protection to me)? this means that when sex is often with male condom i have 70% chance of getting herpes? How can i take an informed decision?
should i have another blood test since my last protected encounter one week ago? and when? he had like a small red spot in the base of his penis(which maybe the male condom didnt cover) but like flat and unitary and of small diameter ; no scabbing ; no liquids; no itching ; no pain ; no blood; wasnt shiny ; like follicular eczema or atopic dermatitis in my opinion but i m not a doctor; only a dentist . At that time it didnt seem like herpes so we decided that it wasnt herpetic lesion to abstein from sex
i m so sorry for the trouble;
have a very nice weekend
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
47 months ago
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That is the study we always quote. I think that the statistics are lower as relationships go on because condom use is less frequent. Herpes lesions are not flat really. I doubt that there was much risk there. You probably need to step back and ask yourself if you are really willing to take any risk of getting HSV 2 because it will never be risk free 100%. Is this relationship worth taking a small risk of getting herpes to you?
Terri
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