Vaginal Drying Agents and HIV Transmission

Prevalence, Motivations, and Adverse Effects of Vaginal Practices in Africa and Asia: Findings from a Multicountry Household Survey

“…8,9 The practices and their underlying motivations influence the acceptability and, thus, potential effectiveness of HIV prevention technologies, such as condoms, 10 the diaphragm, 11 and microbicides. 12 In Africa, so-called dry sex and other vaginal insertion practices have also been linked with such adverse reproductive outcomes as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and infertility 2,[13][14][15] and with HIV infection. 16,17 Increased risk for HIV acquisition might be mediated through vaginal practices disrupting the vaginal epithelium or increasing the occurrence of bacterial vaginosis.…”

Dry sex in Suriname

“…Although this is uncomfortable and painful, African women express the need to please their husbands with dry sex in order to keep them from leaving and to minimise the number of girlfriends (Baleta, 1998;Kun, 1998). Previous research has shown that dry sex damages the epithelium of the vagina and can lead to lacerations, inflammations, and the suppression of the vagina's natural bacteria, all of which increase the likelihood of infection with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV (Brown et al, 1993;Runganga and Kasule, 1995;Kun, 1998;McClelland et al, 2006). Furthermore, the practice of dry sex is generally incompatible with the use of condoms, as they require lubrication to avoid breakage (Civic and Wilson, 1996).…”

Understanding intra-vaginal and labia minora elongation practices among women heads-of-households in Zambézia Province, Mozambique

“…Common intra-vaginal practices include the insertion of herbs and other agents to tighten the vagina precoitally (Kun 1998, Martin Hilber, Hull et al 2009, Turner, Morrison et al 2010, Hull, Hilber et al 2011) as well as soap and water to clean the vagina (McClelland, Lavreys et al 2006, van de Wijgert, Morrison et al 2006, Francis, Lees et al 2012, Francis, Baisley et al 2013, Masese, McClelland et al 2013), both associated with increasing STI risk and delaying care for vaginal infections (Myer, Denny et al 2004, Hilber, Chersich et al 2007, Hilber, Francis et al 2010, Low, Chersich et al 2011, Francis, Baisley et al 2013). There is evidence of the negative effect of intra-vaginal practices on reproductive tract health, specifically increased risk of bacterial vaginosis (van de Wijgert, Chirenje et al 2000, van De Wijgert, Mason et al 2000, Bradshaw, Morton et al 2005, Demba, Morison et al 2005, Myer, Kuhn et al 2005, Hilber, Francis et al 2010, Low, Chersich et al 2011).…”