Preventing syphilis in the 16th century: the distinguished Italian anatomist Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562) and the invention of the condom.

By the end of the 15th century, syphilis had reached epidemic proportions in Europe. Unable to ascertain its causes, physicians resorted to superstition. At the beginning of the 16th century, the sexual transmission of the disease was established. Initially, the principal measure of infection control was sexual abstinence and mutual fidelity. However, during the same period the Italian anatomist Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562) proposed a method of preventing syphilis transmission: the medication-soaked linen sheath. Thus was born the idea of a mechanical barrier against sexually transmitted diseases: the condom.