Although they are no longer a taboo, talking about sex and, more so, the different sexually transmitted diseases still seems to be awkward. Thus, many often decide to keep these infections to themselves until the symptoms have already worsened. The inability to talk about it only means that a person can have sex without adequate protection and then spread the disease.
Now there's a new condom that can hopefully change all that. It's called S.T.EYE.
Teens Daanyaal Ali, Muaz Nawaz, and Chiraq Shah from the UK has just come up with what could be a game changer in the fight against sexually transmitted infections, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. Based on the group's design, this condom will be able to detect the presence of infection by changing its color.
The condom is layered with antibodies that, when they come into contact with any of the popular sources of infection, will then react, which will then lead to the change of color. As to what shade it will be, it depends on the infection the person has. Moreover, the condoms can, in theory, identify the presence of these diseases for both males and females.
The teens, who are between 13 and 14 years old, revealed that they thought about this project because they learned the high rate of STI cases in the country. They are currently studying in East London at Isaac Newton Academy.
According to the 2010 fact sheet published in the FPA website, in 2009, there were more than 480,000 new STI cases reported, with most of the patients young adults whose ages were from 15 to 24 years old. The infections were also more likely to spread in the busiest city centers such as London. Many factors contributed to the increase of diagnoses, including unsafe sex (sex without protection), riskier sexual behavior, and better screening of diseases.
This project won the boys first place in TeenTech Awards. They took home more than $1,000 and now have the chance to visit Buckingham Palace and meet the Duke of York, Prince Andrew. Their idea, meanwhile, may become a reality after they were approached by a condom manufacturer.