Real Statistics - TheBody.com's Bulletin Boards

Perhaps half of college students don't use condoms, because of the myth you mentioned about holes in condoms. That's what's so dangerous about this particular myth.

By the way, you didn't cite the sources of your information. About condoms: Where is the information on the study done to determine the figures you use? Are you talking about latex or natural membrane condoms? About the students: When was that study done? Who did that study? Was it one school or all the colleges and universities? How many participated? Of course I'm not surprised our resident dissident didn't cite sources.

Below is what the CDC has to say about this rumor. It's been around for a long time. If it were true we'd would have been hearing of people infected even when using a condom for the last 20 years. We don't. Why? Because condoms work.

I should give you my daughter's school nurse's number. You two seem to have a lot in common. Neither of you have any common sense and tend to give out incorrect information to suit your purposes.

www.aegis.com/pubs/Cdc_Fact_Sheets/1993/CDC93108.html

CDC NATIONAL AIDS HOTLINE TRAINING BULLETIN #11 - July 1, 1992
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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These are answers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to questions concerning reports of holes in latex condoms.
1. There have been recent reports of naturally occurring holes in latex that are big enough for HIV to pass through. Why does CDC still recommend condoms to prevent HIV infection?

The reports of holes in latex appear to have originated from an article in Science magazine about latex gloves, not condoms. Holes as large as 5 microns in diameter were evidently identified in latex used in gloves. However, gloves are only dipped in latex once when they are made, condoms are dipped in latex twice. Gloves are allowed to fail the water leak test at a rate of 40 per thousand, while condoms are only allowed 4 failures of the water leak test per thousand condoms before the entire batch of condoms is rejected. While holes large enough to allow HIV to pass through have been found in natural membrane condoms, latex condoms do not allow HIV to pass through the condom unless the condom has been damaged or torn. Used properly, latex condoms are effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection.

2. Who can I contact for more information on condoms and HIV infection?

The CDC National AIDS Hotline (1-800-342-AIDS) has trained information specialists to answer questions or provide referrals on HIV infection and AIDS.

and...

Here's a Q&A that discusses the same thing from the John Hopkins site.

qa.hopkins-aids.org/forum/view_question.html?section_id=61&category_id=88&id=12034

From 1999

I know this sounds rediculous considering all the information that is out there about AIDS, however, my brother claims that there is a lady who wrote a book that claims she has governmental proof that AIDS can be contracted via sweat, urine, and even by shaking an infected persons hand. I don't believe him, but he claims this person has "evidence" and that physicians are not being properly instructed regarding AIDS contraction and prevention. Of course this woman will not disclose this information unless you buy her book. My brother also claims that condoms don't actually prevent STD and HIV transmission. He claims that the AIDS molecules are smaller than the condom molecules and thus can get through a latex condom. He claims they are only effective for preventing pregnancy. I do know that there are disclaimers on condom packages that say that condoms are not 100% effective due to incorrect usage, inconsistent usage, and other defects, but do they really work as barriers for disease prevention? I tried to tell him that if that were the case then there would be more cases of the disease world wide and the result would resemble the black plague. Please help me to educate my conspiracy-theorist brother!!

Thank you

Gullible people like your brother are usually pretty hard to educate. They’re much more likely to pay attention to some crack-pot selling top secret information than to the weight of two decades of accumulated scientific evidence, and common sense rarely even enters the picture. Be wary of anyone bearing a theory that you have to pay money to read. Respectable data are always disseminated widely and free of charge in the scientific literature.

Condoms work when they’re used properly. Studies have shown extremely low rates of transmission among serodiscordant couples (one positive, one negative) when condoms are used consistently. There’s no such thing as an “AIDS molecule” or a “condom molecule.” The HIV virus does not pass through condoms. The size of the virus is not the issue. HIV is transmitted through infected semen, and if semen is blocked by a condom, then so is HIV transmission.

If people could be infected by shaking hands, then we would be seeing a serious epidemic among heterosexual businessmen. That's the kind of reasoning that I'm referring to when I talk about "common sense." You don't need an HIV expert to draw such a conclusion for you if you're using some fraction of your brain.

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