IRIN PlusNews HIV/AIDS News and information service | Southern Africa | AFRICA: Vaginal douching increases HIV risk | Care Treatment, Prevention, Other | Daily
Tuesday 17 January 2006
Home About PlusNews Country Profiles News Briefs Special Reports Subscribe Archive IRINnews
 

Regions

Africa
East Africa
Great Lakes
Horn of Africa
Southern Africa
West Africa
Weekly
RSSyndication
RSS - News Briefs

Features

PlusNews E-mail Subscription
 

AFRICA: Vaginal douching increases HIV risk


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


JOHANNESBURG, 16 January (PLUSNEWS) - Sex workers performing internal vaginal washing as a means of HIV prevention are three times more likely to contract the virus than those who do not, a 10-year study in Africa has suggested.

According to researchers from the University of Washington, the practice, found to be prevalent among a third of the women in various clinical settings in sub-Saharan Africa, often stripped the vagina's natural protection against certain infections.

"This is the first prospective study to demonstrate a significant association between vaginal washing and HIV acquisition. A causal association between [the two] seems biologically plausible," lead author Dr Scott McClelland told the BBC.

However, McClelland and his team stressed that the cultural significance of the practice had to be understood before any interventions were recommended.

The research has been published in AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society.

[ENDS]

:: MORE NEWS BRIEFS ::




 
Recent AFRICA Reports
Khomanani adds a new twist to love on Valentine's,  13/Jan/06
IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 266, 13 January 2006,  13/Jan/06
IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 265, 6 January 2006,  6/Jan/06
Global Fund withdraws support for loveLife ,  19/Dec/05
IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 264, 16 December 2005,  16/Dec/05
Links
· AIDS Media Center
· The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria
· International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS
· AEGIS
· International HIV/AIDS Alliance


PlusNews does not take responsibility for info in links supplied.


[Back] [Home Page]

Click here to send any feedback, comments or questions you have about PlusNews Website or if you prefer you can send an Email to Webmaster

Copyright © IRIN 2006
The material contained on www.PlusNews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.
All PlusNews material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.