Condoms treated with silver nanoparticles could ‘completely inactivate’ HIV, other STDs: researchers

published on November 5, 2012 in The National Post

Canadian researchers say they have found a solution to the humble condom’s fatal flaw: nanoparticles.

Condoms have a 15% failure rate, so a University of Manitoba team tried soaking condoms in a solution packed with “remarkable,” microscopic silver nanoparticles, and the treated devices appeared to kill all HIV and herpes in lab experiments, the scientists report.

“Till now, there has been no single condom with additional protection against sexually transmitted infections available on the market,” noted the group’s paper just published in the International Journal of Nanotechnology. But when their novel nanoparticle condoms contacted HIV, “the infectiousness of the virus could be completely inactivated.”

It has long been known that silver has disinfectant powers, prompting people in the early 1900s to put it in milk to stave off spoilage, and in eye drops to try to prevent infection. Its effectiveness, though, was less than reliable.

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.