Summary: U.S. Government Reports: No Proof Condoms Prevent Common STDs

U.S. governmental study reveals no proof condoms prevent transmission of gonorrhea, chlamydial infection, trichomoniasis, genital herpes, syphilis, chancroid, and HPV-associated diseases.

• According to a report prepared by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services, primary prevention of STD infection is an important health priority. Unfortunately there are no STD vaccines (except for the hepatitis B vaccine), and topical microbicides to prevent STDs are not available. Beyond mutual lifelong monogamy among uninfected couples, condom-use is the only method for reducing the risk of HIV infection and STDs available to sexually active individuals. The strongest evidence for potential effectiveness of condoms on other STDs transmitted by genital secretions (i.e. gonorrhea in women, chlamydial infection and trichomoniasis) was the laboratory-based studies on the properties of the male latex condom and the strength of the evidence for condom use reducing the risk of HIV transmission in men and women and gonorrhea in men. The study panel concluded, however, that because of limitations in study designs there was insufficient evidence from the epidemiological studies on these diseases to draw definite conclusions about the effectiveness of the latex male condom in reducing the transmission of these diseases.¹

¹Workshop Summary: Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention, The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services, July 20, 2001, pp. 1-27.