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Spermicide ingredient ineffective in preventing HIV infection, UN health agency reports

Spermicide ingredient ineffective in preventing HIV infection, UN health agency reports

Spermicides containing the popular ingredient nonoxynol-9 do not protect against HIV infection and women using these products frequently may even increase their risk of contracting the virus, according to a report released today by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

Spermicides containing the popular ingredient nonoxynol-9 do not protect against HIV infection and women using these products frequently may even increase their risk of contracting the virus, according to a report released today by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

The report, containing the recommendations of an expert meeting convened by the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research, also advises women at high risk of HIV infection against using nonoxynol-9 spermicides for contraception.

Nonoxynol-9, present in most spermicides on the market today, has been used over the past half-century in a wide range of spermicidal products, including vaginal gels, creams and foams, and used alone or with other contraceptive devices such the diaphragm.

While these products were initially thought to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, they have primarily been used as methods of contraception, according to WHO. The number of women of reproductive age using spermicides has been estimated to vary from less than 1 per cent in Asia to nearly 17 per cent in some Latin American countries.

"Nonoxynol-9 clearly does not prevent HIV infection and may even favour infection if used frequently," said Dr. Tomris Türmen, Executive Director of WHO's Family and Community Health. "There is an urgent need to develop a microbicide which can substantially reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and which can be used by women."

In the 1970s and 1980s, laboratory tests showed that nonoxynol-9 could inactivate the organisms that cause gonorrhoea, chlamydial infections, and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as HIV. These findings fuelled hopes that it could be used for both contraceptive and microbicidal purposes, but clinical trials conducted so far do not support that conclusion.

On the contrary, two studies mentioned in the WHO report point to an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV infection, in women using nonoxynol-9 products. A possible reason, suggested by the findings of other studies, is that nonoxynol-9 can disrupt the wall of the vagina, thereby potentially facilitating invasion by an infective organism.