Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 24, 2000
Women who have sex with other women were thought to have a small chance of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs) but a study by scientists from the Sexual Health Unit in Alice Springs showed their risk is just as high as other women.
"We demonstrated a higher prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (vaginal disease), hepatitis C and HIV risk behaviours in women who have sex with other women compared with (other women)," Dr Katherine Fethers said in a report in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
The researchers compared the medical histories and sexual behaviour of 1,408 lesbians and 1,423 heterosexual women who attended a sexual health clinic in Sydney between March 1991 and December 1998.
"All women with a history of sex with a woman were compared with women who denied ever having sex with another woman," Fethers explained.
She and her colleagues said only 7% of the women who had female sex partners said they had never had sex with a man. But they were more likely to have had a relationship with a gay or bisexual man and to have had more partners than the other women during their lifetime.
"These data argue strongly for increased measures to improve our understanding of the sexual health of women who have sex with women," Fethers added.
She also called for more basic research into STIs, including the HIV virus that causes AIDS web , and targeted intervention strategies for women with female sex partners.
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