This should be obvious, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants the message out there, just in case. "Don't wash or reuse condoms!"
That's the message the CDC has been sharing with Americans this summer about safe sex practices. The tweet and message have been trending on social media and other media outlets recently.
"We say it because people do it," the CDC message reads, adding "use a fresh one for each sex act."
It's a message that should resonate in South Florida, which is known as a high-risk area for HIV. Miami and Fort Lauderdale lead the country in new HIV infection rates, according to figures from the CDC. Reasons for the high infection rates in the region range from cultural barriers and lack of safe-sex education to drug use.
"Correctly using male condoms and other barriers like female condoms and dental dams, every time, can reduce (though not eliminate) the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis," according to the CDC's website in a section on prophylactic effectiveness and how men and women can use the little preventers properly.
The Atlanta-based health agency also advises that people use "use a new condom for every act of vaginal, anal and oral sex throughout the entire sex act."
