CONDOMS
- Thin rubber or latex sheath worn over the erect penis during intercourse
- If condoms are not in cool, dry place the rubber deteriorates; likewise, condoms have limited “shelf life” as condom materials deteriorate over time
- Use of lubricants and/or spermicides can cause condom failure by accelerating deterioration of condom rubber.
- Effective only 84 to 88 percent of the time, at best (Chance of pregnancy over one-year use is one in six).
- In unmarried minority women the failure rate of condoms is even higher, some 36 percent; among unmarried Hispanic women the failure rate is as high as 44.5 percent
- Contrary to claims that condoms can be an effective means of preventing venereal diseases the spread of HIV, the fact is that the human immunodeficiency virus is 500 times smaller than a human sperm. Obviously, since condoms fail anywhere from 12 to 44 percent of the time in preventing pregnancy, they are even less.
- Effective in preventing the transmission of this tiny virus.