Proper Condom Usage would notably protect women from herpes (more than men!). But why?

[happyman_adventurous]

Here's a link to a 2001 study where they say that condom usage would be more protective to women than to men, but I don't get the reason why...

 

- https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/2001/12/condoms-reduce-womens-risk-herpes-infection-do-not-protect-men

 

Literally, they say this:

 

"Our data indicate that condoms markedly reduce the risk of acquisition of HSV-2 in women, but not in men." They deduce that the reason for the difference may be that when used correctly, condoms fully cover the skin of the penis, from which the virus is shed, but do not protect men against exposure to all female genital sites from which the virus may be shed. The researchers point out that "contact with vulvar or perianal areas, the most common sites of viral shedding in women, may be a factor in the lower effectiveness of condoms in transmission from women to men."

 

However, some doctors say that the abdominal skin, or the tights skin, is too thick for the virus to penetrate (or to go out if the virus was already inside). If the infection occurs on the balls' bag (thinner skin), then it's another story but... would this be even possible? (I ask because balls can touch, yes, but not exactly in a "friction" manner)...

 

If thick skin is a barrier, and if the testicles are usually safe, the infection from woman to man should occur when a shedding vulvar area frictions against thinner skin penile areas (shaft, like the penis base) - but in such a case the incidence of infection should be THE SAME between sexes, because an infected shaft would be as dangerous as an infected vulvar area - if a condom were used and failed to cover some of the penis base.

 

Isn't it strange that women are more protected than men? I can't understand the results of this study.

 

The only explanation I can find is that the female can transmit the virus through some vaginal fluids. Those fluids could get their way into uncovered places, then some friction could make the rest.

 

Any ideas are welcome to understand this better.