# I was taught that condoms were useless against HIV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174 "2005-04-20T02:12:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/21 "2005-04-20T19:00:52Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > As a teenager, I was always told that since HIV was about a quarter of the size of the microscopic holes in condoms, that they were useless against AIDS. I wasn’t taught they were “useless,” but we were told the whole HIV-is-smaller-than-holes-in-latex thing in Upward Bound – hardly a teeming hotbed of conservative though. As far as HIV goes, I don’t care how watertight the condom is, there’s not enough money in the world to get me to have sex with someone with HIV, period. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/22 "2005-04-20T20:30:30Z")
> [@Gorillaman](#): > > Possibly the teaching of the OP was a garbling of the message that condoms aren’t sufficient to protect against all STDs? > [@Arwin](#): > > No. Quite simply it’s as above - the condom may tear or slip off, and then you may be in trouble. But other than that, it’s safe. The stuff that Lord Ashtar learnt is nonsense. Condoms do not necessarily prevent diseases like herpes or genital warts that are transfered through contact rather than through fluid exchange. Although they do greatly lower the risk of such since most of the skin on skin contact is prevented. ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/23 "2005-04-20T23:09:54Z")
Somewhere on the CDC site there’s a study that describes the risk of leaks in condoms in great detail. It concludes that the very small holes that exist in many condoms, as well as the larger holes that exist in some condoms, are not sufficient to allow HIV to pass. The key to why this is true is that HIV cannot simply pass through a barrier on its own accord; it must be carried with a fluid. Whether the virus particle is small enough to pass through a hole is irrelevant. What matters is whether enough fluid to contain a sufficient number of virus particles to cause infection can pass through the condom. Unless the condom breaks catastrophically, they did not find that sufficient fluid to cause infection could pass through the natural pores or even holes resulting from manufacturing defects. A catastrophic breakage, of course, could allow sufficient fluid to escape, but really only if it occurs after ejaculation (which it typically would not). Thus, properly-used condoms are indeed effective at preventing the spread of HIV. Exactly how effective they are is not entirely known, and the issue is subject to a great deal of political and religious controversy. Most likely, they are _very_ effective, but there are many people who believe them to be ineffective on faith and will not accept scientific evidence of their efficacy. (The actual figure is certainly no lower than 90% and may be well over 99%.) Unfortunately, many people are taught that condoms are not effective, and some people will choose not to use them because of this belief. Such people are orders of magnitude more likely to contract HIV and most other STDs than people who use condoms consistently and correctly. I think it’s really, really tragic that religious and political issues regarding the use of condoms have to result in even a small number of people contracting HIV because of the misinformation that is spread about condoms. (This sounds like opinions, but if _anyone_ doesn’t use condoms because they don’t think they’re effective and condoms are effective _at all_, people are contracting STDs because of their belief that condoms don’t protect against the transmission of STDs.) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/24 "2005-04-20T23:19:51Z")
And I was taught that oral sex can get you pregnant. Chalk up another “lie my teacher told me”. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/25 "2005-04-20T23:35:22Z")
You may be referring to the document linked to below: WARNING: PDF!!! > **[7937](https://www.niaid.nih.gov/node/7937?404message&requested_url=%2Fdmid%2Fstds%2Fcondomreport.pdf)** ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/26 "2005-04-20T23:40:53Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > Perhaps the OP has been listening to [misinformation](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3180236.stm) spread by certain ranking members of the Catholic clergy: > > > [@](#): > > > > The president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, told the programme: "The Aids virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoon. The spermatozoon can easily pass through the ‘net’ that is formed by the condom. I wouldn’t trust anyone who used the phrase “450 times smaller”. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/27 "2005-04-20T23:44:49Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > I wouldn’t trust anyone who used the phrase “450 times smaller”. No, the roughly 450 times smaller is what gets me. How can one be so exact and yet so imprecise??? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/28 "2005-04-21T00:25:39Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > And I was taught that oral sex can get you pregnant. > Chalk up another “lie my teacher told me”. Well _maybe_. If a man performs oral sex on a woman after he has ejactulated in her mouth, and their mouths have come in contact at some point in the interim, I suppose it could happen. I don’t know of any documented cases though. ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/29 "2005-04-21T00:36:06Z")
Loopydude: Yes, that was the report I referred to; thanks for posting the link. CynicalGabe: If there’s any ‘evidence’ for that, I suspect it’s because people lied on self-reported information. For example, some pregnant women may have claimed incorrectly that they had only had oral sex. I suspect the same is true for many people who claim to have contracted HIV from oral sex; they are simply asked about their sexual histories, and they fail to report unprotected intercourse of other types. Even if the scenario Ruken described did occur, I highly doubt that conception could result. I’m not sure if sperm can survive in the mouth, but the number of sperm transferred in such a situation would be far smaller than the total, and they would be at a distinct disadvantage if they were not immersed in seminal fluids to help them on their journey… ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/30 "2005-04-21T20:40:42Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Well _maybe_. If a man performs oral sex on a woman after he has ejactulated in her mouth, and their mouths have come in contact at some point in the interim, I suppose it could happen. I don’t know of any documented cases though. I’ve heard that masturbation can get you pregnant. If you don’t wash your hands. And you walk around outside for a long time. And then some female skydiver falls out of the sky because her parachute failed. When she was ovulating. And she falls on your hand. But the fall might be fatal anyway, so she might only be pregnant for like 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/31 "2005-04-21T23:04:25Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > I’ve heard that masturbation can get you pregnant. > > If you don’t wash your hands. And you walk around outside for a long time. And then some female skydiver falls out of the sky because her parachute failed. When she was ovulating. And she falls on your hand. But the fall might be fatal anyway, so she might only be pregnant for like 5 minutes. Well there you have it. **If you touch your penis, someone will get pregnant. Therefore, condoms will give you AIDS**. I’m glad we all learned something today ;). I _have_ heard of people claiming to have gotten pregnant w/o engaging in actual intercourse. I’m not saying it’s true. Even if it is though, the chances are pretty slim. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/32 "2005-04-21T23:30:54Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > And I was taught that oral sex can get you pregnant. > Chalk up another “lie my teacher told me”. Gabe, unless your user name is very misleading, I’d venture to say that nothing’s gonna get _you_ pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174/33 "2005-04-22T00:19:36Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Gabe, unless your user name is very misleading, I’d venture to say that nothing’s gonna get _you_ pregnant. Why risk it? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-taught-that-condoms-were-useless-against-hiv/300174.md?page=1)