Is nonoxynol-9 helping or hurting in the fight against HIV transmission?
Almost from the moment researchers and AIDS activists first began promoting safer sex to prevent the spread of HIV, the condom — the foot-soldier of the prevention war — has been accompanied by a chemical weapon: lubricants containing the spermicide nonoxynol-9. Studies had shown nonoxynol-9 to be active against HIV in the test tube, and since this compound was already in use in some lubricants as a spermicide, it was assumed that using a lubricant containing nonoxynol-9 might help prevent transmission of HIV — and certainly wouldn’t do any harm. However, a decade and a half later there is still no evidence that lubricants containing nonoxynol-9 do help protect against HIV transmission. In fact, several studies have suggested that because the spermicide often irritates the delicate skin of the genitals, nonoxynol-9 may actually promote HIV infection. Recently, a large-scale trial of nonoxynol-9 was conducted by Family Health International and the Cameroon Ministry of Health. In this
