                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997                TAG: 9704070041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-4  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

STUDY FINDS SPERMICIDES DON'T BLOCK DISEASE OFFICIALS STRESS THE NEED FOR A PRODUCT WOMEN CAN USE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES

Nonoxynol-9 is ineffective against sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, chlamydia or gonorrhea.

Condoms used with spermicides provide no more protection against HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases than when used alone, according to the results of a study released this week.

The findings differ from previous research suggesting that spermicides appear to protect women against gonorrhea and chlamydia, two of the most common STDs.

Officials at the Family Health International, which conducted the two-year study on the spermicide nonoxynol-9, said previous research was conducted on a much smaller scale.

While public officials were disappointed by the findings, they said the results stress the need to continue research for a product that women can use independent of their male partners.

``We and other public health officials are committed to developing an STD-HIV prevention method that can be controlled by women,'' said Rodney Huff, chief of the Efficacy Trial Branch for the National Institutes of Health's AIDS Vaccine Research and Prevention Program, which supported the FHI study.

Nonoxynol-9 is a detergent-like chemical that has been widely used for more than 30 years in over-the-counter gels, foams and creams used to kill sperm. Research shows it kills the AIDS virus in test tubes, but other studies show nonoxynol-9 also irritates the vagina, raising the fear that it could let the HIV virus more easily infect women.

The FHI study, conducted in two cities in Cameroon, compared women who used condoms with the spermicide to those who used condoms and placebos. The rate of HIV transmission was nearly the same for both groups.

FHI is a nonprofit North Carolina research group that focuses on improving reproductive health, primarily through contraception and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

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by CNB