Times Live Blog: Promising results in blocking HIV during first days of infection: M2010
Microbicide shows HIV prevention promise
By Science News MONTREAL (UPI) 11 February 2009: AIDS researchers meeting in Montreal say anitretroviral drugs given by vaginal gel may be effective at preventing HIV infection.
The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported Tuesday that two experiments
in monkeys showed oral or vaginal treatment of tenofovir, or a
combination drug that also contained emtricitabine, was highly
effective in blocking HIV infection. A third study, which involved
3,100 women in the United States and Africa, found a microbicide
vaginal gel called PRO 2000/5 prevented HIV from invading cells.
The microbicide gel reduced the risk of HIV infection by 30 percent
over two years.
The push to find a microbicide that can prevent HIV transmission is
considered especially important for places such as sub-Saharan Africa,
where it is difficult for women to protect themselves through
abstinence or condom use, the newspaper said.