Facts about condoms

June 30, 2005

Studies show latex condoms are highly effective in preventing pregnancy and infection from the HIV virus.


?They reduce chances of pregnancy over a year's time to 3% with perfect use and 14% with typical use, compared with 85% with no birth control. (Perfect use means they're used every time and put on before any skin-to-skin contact.) ?With perfect use, chances of HIV infection are reduced about 80%.


More research needed


There's also clear evidence that latex condoms reduce the risk of nearly all other sexually transmitted diseases.


But findings on the level of their effectiveness vary wildly because the studies have been small or poorly conducted, or because some diseases are spread more easily than others (or spread by parts of the body not covered by condoms).


So more research is needed. But here's what we know so far. According to the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health, condom use reduces the risk of infection for:


?Genital herpes, by 30-92% in women; less in men (no number given).
?Gonorrhea, by 49-75% in men, and by 39-62% in women.
?Chlamydia, by 26-90% in women and by 33% in men.
?Pelvic inflammatory disease, by 55%.
?Trichomoniasis, by 30% in women, with significant reduction in men (no number given).
?Genital ulcers (chancroid), by 18-23%.
?Syphilis, by 40-60%.


By the Associated Press