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To avoid the mental and physical trauma of preoperative shaving of the genital area prior to vasectomy 50 men who underwent vasectomy were given small amounts of Betadine surgical scrub to use as a washing material in their genital area for 2-4 days prior to surgery with a washing the morning of surgery. At the time of operation there was no clipping or shaving of the operative field only a warm Betadine scrub without a nail brush. No infection was reported in any of the 50 patients. There was enlargement of the testicle in 2 patients possibly due to sitting up too soon. Neither was considered as caused by the surgical technique.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the etiological agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), was treated with either Betadine® (povidone-iodine) Solution or Betadine Surgical Scrub®. HIV inactivation was analyzed using the viral reverse transcriptase assay or by observing the cytopathic effect produced in HIV-infected, H-9, T-cell cultures. The minimum effective Betadine dose was 0.25% for complete inactivation of HIV that was treated for various time intervals (immediate vortex to ten minutes). The titer of HIV stocks used in these experiments (105 TCID50per mL) was greater than amounts generally detected in clinical specimens. Our results provide a rationale for the use of povidone-iodine as a topical antiseptic against HIV in the clinic or laboratory.