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A CDC review updates 1988 information on the efficacy of condoms in preventing HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. The news is good: latex condoms, used correctly and consistently, provide excellent protection.
Some of the best recent evidence comes from several studies of heterosexual couples "serodiscordant" for HIV (one member positive, the other negative). In one study, focusing on seronegative women with seropositive partners, 3 of 171 women whose partner consistently used condoms became infected, as compared with 8 of 55 partners of inconsistent condom users. Overall rates of HIV transmission were an estimated 1.1 per 100 person-years with consistent condom use versus 9.7 with inconsistent use. These findings apply t…