Do Condoms Protect Against Small Viruses?

The use of condoms is widely recommended to prevent sexually transmitted
diseases, including those caused by such viruses as herpes simplex,
hepatitis B, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The efficacy of condoms in these circumstances, however, is unknown. The
water-leak test used to ensure the integrity of condoms can detect holes
as small as 3 to 4 m in diameter, but sexually transmitted viruses are
much smaller, with diameters of 0.04 to 0.15 m. A previous study
demonstrated that about one third of condoms tested allowed penetration of
HIV-sized polystyrene spheres.

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PaulKing wrote:
> What a silly post. The amount of oxygen need to sustain a human being
> compared to transmission of a 'virus'.
>
> ***** Stars for idiot post of the month.

You seemed to have avoided mentioning that your "citation" did not
support your claim.

The example of the condom over the head also highlights the logical
fallacy that you use in your argument. It is a type of false dichotomy.


You want us to believe that a condom has to be 100% impermeable to
virus particles in order to be effective in reducing the transmission
of HIV.

No condom is 100% impermeable to oxygen molecules or HIV particles.
Nevertheless, they reduce the amount of oxgyen by several orders of
magnitude. Enough to make breathing impossible. Try it.

Likewise, an infectious dose of HIV is necessary for .. infection.
Clearly only a very small percentage of HIV virus particles could ever
pass through a condom. Most stay with the rest of the semen. A
reduction of several orders of magnitude is enough to reduce the
probability of transmission by several orders of magnitude.

Nobody has ever claimed that condoms are 100% effective. That is not
the point - unless you are a no-brained Denialist who prefers attacking
his own strawmen.

Chris Noble

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