No, You Don’t Need Special “Anti-Zika” Condoms

[Agschmid]

[div style="display:inline; background-color:#FFFF66;"]All condoms are anti-Zika.

[center][/center]

When the Australian Olympic team arrives in Rio de Janeiro this summer, they’ll be armed with extra-special anti-Zika condoms, courtesy of Australian pharmaceutical company Starpharma’s condom manufacturer Ansell, Reuters reports. The condoms will be lubricated with a product called VivaGel, which Starpharma claims shows “near-complete antiviral protection” against Zika.

So should the Australian athletes bring enough of these special condoms to share? That will not be necessary, according to several experts.

[div style="display:inline; background-color:#FFFF66;"]“There is no evidence that addition of an anti-infective alters the effectiveness of condoms, whether it improves them or makes them less effective,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Benjamin N. Haynes said in an email to Slate.

It’s true that Zika virus can be sexually transmitted. A man carrying Zika virus can pass it along to his partners even if he doesn’t have symptoms, and the virus lingers in semen longer than in blood. But condoms are already very effective at preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections because they trap semen and prevent the virus from spreading by containing it.

Read more on Slate.

[uppityperson]

1. But are they gluten free?

[HuckleB]

3. No way! Gluten kills the Zika!

[HuckleB]

2. Well, it does seem like they took a fair idea found to be wanting and kept it any way.

Why do I suspect that this is how most alt-med silliness gets started?

Ugh.

[Agschmid]

4. #NailedIt

They should probably just move the Olympics... just saying.

[HuckleB]

5. They should have moved the last Winter Olympics, too.

There are many reasons they should move the Olympics, the next two World Cups, and much more, probably.

[Agschmid]

6. They should really just have them in the same location, every time.

It makes so much more financial sense, and it would be much better for the environment.

[HuckleB]

7. Absolutely.

The toll of professional sports stadiums on local government budgets in the US is only multiplied with world wide events such those.

[calguy]

8. Hey, I wear one every time I leave the house

Ya just can't be too careful these days, ya know?

[Agschmid]

9. Might I also suggest bug spray?

I hear it works great with the condom.