MARIPOSA STUDY
AIDS Study to Test Condoms, Spermicides
LOS ANGELES TIMES (LT) - FRIDAY January 16, 1987
Harry Nelson; Times Medical Writer
In a unique research project, scientists in Los Angeles soon will begin a federally funded human study to see if condoms and spermicides can prevent the spread of the AIDS virus.
Tests have suggested that spermicides can kill the AIDS virus in a laboratory dish, but no tests have ever been done to test their effectiveness in humans.
And despite longstanding recommendations from public health officials that high-risk people use condoms, the ability of condoms to act as a barrier to the passage of the virus has never been thoroughly tested.
Thus the study, funded by a $2.5-million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md., will be the nation's first in-depth effort to learn whether products in common use by millions of people for contraceptive purposes may help stem the growing number of AIDS cases.
Other investigators in the study are Dr. Robert Nakamura and Dr. Gerald Bernstein of the USC School of Medicine and Dr. Bruce Voeller, president of the Mariposa Education and Research Foundation.
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Holistic, my foot!!!!!!!!!!
NOTE ON MARIPOSA STUDY
The study did not take into consideration the other major factors resulting in failure: -
1) Shear failure. 2.2% to 3.2%
2). In shelf vulcanization failure. 0% to 100% depending on age, transport and storage conditions.
3). Incorrect use failures. Between 25% and 37% depending on which study you read.
Actual failure rate is the Mariposa transmission failure rate plus the above failure rates plus other factors not outlined above.