[afro-nets] RFI: Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device and "STI" (5)

["Paula Tavrow" <ptavrow@yahoo.com>]

RFI: Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device and "STI" (5)
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It is important for AFRO-NETS readers to get the most recent scientific evidence about the IUCD (sometimes referred to as the IUD).

Contrary to what Emmanuel Adegbe asserted, IUCD use does not in itself increase the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease.  According to the 18th Revised Edition of Contraceptive Technology (2004), Chapter 21, p. 505, a common misconception is that the IUCD increases the risk of PID. The authors write, "The IUD itself appears to have no effect on the risk of upper-genital-tract infection.  Rather, the insertion process carries a small, transient risk in some women.  The risk of PID in appropriately selected IUD candidates is so small that prophylatic antibiotics are not warranted."

In other words, it is important that no women with an existing STI have the device inserted until after the disease has been cleared.

The length of time in which a woman uses an IUCD has absolutely no bearing on whether she will acquire a sexually-transmitted infection.  

My advice to Mr. Chirundu is to get tested for STIs prior to starting the treatment.  If he does not have any STI, then his wife either acquired her STI from another partner or had a reproductive tract infection which is not sexually-transmitted.  If he is found to test positive for an STI, it may be that he had it for some time without his knowledge.  In other words, he might have acquired it prior to marriage and transmitted it much later. 

The fact that Mr. Chirundu's wife was reporting pains before she went for the IUCD removal suggests that the removal process itself was not the problem.

Sincerely,
Paula Tavrow, PhD
Director, Bixby Program in Population and Reproductive Health
School of Public Health, UCLA
Los Angeles, California 90095-1772
USA
mailto:ptavrow@yahoo.com