Times Live Blog: Promising results in blocking HIV during first days of infection: M2010
Vaginal gel shows promise in AIDS prevention
by Neka Sehgal (The Money Times-Montreal) 9 February 2009: A vaginal gel which can kill the HIV virus, was hailed for holding hope as a weapon in the arsenal against the deadly disease.
According to clinical trials conducted in Africa and the United
States, the US National Institutes of Health said an experimental
vaginal gel has yielded promising results in preventing HIV infection
in women.
Although the microbicide PRO 2000 made by Lexington,
Massachusetts-based Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., proved safe and 30
percent effective, protection is far from complete. The gel cuts HIV
risk by 30- 36 percent, if women who went off the gel during a
pregnancy are excluded.
Anthony S Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said, "Although more data are needed to
conclusively determine whether PRO 2000 protects women from HIV
infection, the results of this study are encouraging.”
Salim S. Abdool Karim, director of South Africa's AIDS research center
along with his colleagues conducted the trails in the US and six
African cities. They enrolled more than 3,000 sexually active women.
All participants received detailed information about the possible risks
and benefits of the trial before enrollment. They were monitored
monthly during the course of the study, which averaged 20 months. In
addition, all the women were counseled on safe sex practices, given
condoms, and tested and treated for sexually transmitted
infections.
In the test, women were divided into four groups. One group was given
the PRO 2000 gel and condoms, to be used as the women saw fit. The
second group received a fake gel and condoms, and a third group
received just condoms. A fourth group received a second substance being
tested called BufferGel.
In the final analysis, 194 women in the study became infected with HIV.
Of these infections, 36 occurred in the PRO 2000 group, 54 in the
BufferGel group, 51 in the placebo group and 53 in those who did not
use gel. Based on these results, PRO 2000 was 30 percent effective,
while BufferGel had no preventive effect on HIV infection. Both PRO
2000 and BufferGel were found to be safe.
Karim stated that "The study, while not conclusive, provides a glimmer
of hope to millions of women at risk for HIV, especially young women in
Africa. It provides the first signal that a microbicide gel may be able
to protect women from HIV infection."
Women make up 50 percent of all HIV-infected people worldwide and
nearly 60 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. In several southern African
countries young women are at least three times more likely to be
HIV-positive than young men. In most cases, women become infected with
HIV through sexual intercourse with an infected male partner. An
effective microbicide could provide women with an HIV prevention method
they initiate.
Karim reported the findings at the annual Conference on Retroviruses
and Opportunistic Infections in Montreal.