Spermicide Found to Offer No Defense Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Spermicides are an effective form of birth control but provide no protection against sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, according to researchers from Family Health International of Durham, N.C. Dr. Ronald E. Roddy and his colleagues studied 1,292 HIV-negative prostitutes in Cameroon and found that combining the common spermicide nonoxynol 9 with condoms was no more effective than condoms alone.

The women were given condoms and were randomly assigned to get either a spermicide film or an inactive placebo film. The team reports today in the New England Journal of Medicine that just under 7% of women in both groups became infected with the AIDS virus during the study. The spermicide also did not reduce the risk of gonorrhea or chlamydia infections.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II