For women with genital herpes, taking oral contraceptives can double the likelihood of actively shedding the virus and so passing on the infection, a new study shows.
The risk is also roughly doubled when women have bacterial vaginosis -- vaginal infection characterized by heavy discharge -- or when the vagina is colonized by group B strep.
'Even if they are modest associations, they are important because of the widespread use of contraceptives and also because bacterial vaginosis and group B strep are very common vaginal conditions,' Dr. Thomas L. Cherpes of Magee-Womens Research Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
Oral contraceptives boost herpes shedding
