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Vaginal Douching
Increases STD Risks
(onlinedatingmagazine.com -
April 16, 2004) New findings by the Medical Research
Council has revealed that some women are still using
a combination of traditional remedies, patent medicines,
antiseptics, and household detergents to clean and
make their vaginas dry and tight, and these practices,
known as vaginal douching, increase women’s risk
of HIV and STI infection.
This was revealed by a recent study conducted on sex
workers by the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the
Medical Research, whose aim was to establish the prevalence,
determinants, and reasons for these practices among
sex workers in KwaZulu-Natal
Ms Neetha Morar, researcher with unit and principal
investigator of the study, says these practices also
have potential negative implications for the acceptability
and development of HIV-prevention barrier methods such
as the use of condoms and vaginal microbicides.
During the study researchers administered a structured
questionnaire to 150 sex workers being screened for
a vaginal microbicide-effectiveness trial in the province.
The questionnaire sought to elicit information on "the
frequency, reasons for and nature of vaginal douching
and vaginal substance use," the study said, "and
was drawn up on the basis of findings from a pilot
study."
The researchers found that douching and vaginal substance
use were common, with 97 percent of respondents reporting
douching and 94 percent reporting vaginal substance
use for "dry sex."
"The primary reasons for dry sex were to increase
men's sexual pleasure (53%) and to attract clients
and generate more money (20%). Sixty-five percent of
the
women reported the practice of douching mainly for
hygienic purposes and 13 percent for the prevention
and treatment of sexually transmitted infections," says
Morar.
Seventy percent of the sex workers were HIV-positive,
the researchers found, and they averaged five sexual
partners per day.
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