Women urged: Skip underwear at home

House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin has advised women not to use underwear at home this summer to avoid contracting fungal infections.

- SHEILA CRISOSTOMO

Garin, former secretary of the Department of Health, said women are prone to fungal infections, due to the nature of their "intimate area." "It's not a sexually transmitted disease. It is due to the women's natural flora in the intimate area... in the perineal area of women," Garin said yesterday.

She said that when this area gets wet because of sweat, it becomes a "perfect petri dish" for fungi to grow.

"The candida albicans in the skin will multiply and becomes itchy. The more you scratch, the more it will itch. You should not scratch it," she said, referring to the naturally occuring fungus in the body.

Garin said that while the condition

is curable, it is important to keep a woman's intimate area dry.