in the past there was little evidence one way or the other on how well condoms lowered the risk for specific stds. anti-condom forces used that fact to argue that condoms don’t protect. but now findings show that condom use can lower the risk of infection -- not only of hiv/aids but of many other stds. a 2006 study by university of washington researchers found that women whose partners consistently used condoms were half as likely to be infected with human papillomavirus. for hiv/aids consistent and careful condom use can lower the risk of infection by a whopping 90%. when researchers from the national center for chronic disease prevention reviewed results from 45 studies looking at gonorrhea and chlamydia infection they found solid evidence that condoms reduce the risk of these two stds as well. the bottom line: condoms don’t offer 100% protection but they can certainly lower your risk -- and the risk of your partner.
how well do condoms prevent stds?