Scientists will not give up on HIV-fighting gel

The University of KwaZulu-Natal's husband and wife team of Professors Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim head up a research unit that has been at the forefront of clinical trials to find a safe and effective microbicide to protect women from HIV.

In July 2010, World Aids conference delegates gave the couple a standing ovation when they announced the results of one of the most promising studies on HIV prevention to date. Their team at the Centre for the Aids Program of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), showed that a vaginal gel called tenofovir was able to reduce sexual transmission of the virus by 39 percent overall and 54 percent in women who used it consistently. "Tenofovir gel could potentially fill an important HIV prevention gap, especially for women unable to successfully negotiate mutual monogamy or condom use," said the Caprisa research team in an article published in Science magazine.

Unexpectedly, a wider sub-Saharan African study found that the microbicidal gel, when prescribed daily, does not prevent HIV infections, and the use of tenofovir in the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic trial has been suspended. Caprisa director Salim Abdool Karim admits to being "surprised and very disappointed" by the Voice study finding. According to Allafrica.com he suspects that the difference in the ways that women used the vaginal gel in the two studies could have been a factor in the different outcomes. Abdool Karim is pleased, however, that another trial is underway. He hopes Caprisa team gynecologist, Dr. Sengeziwe Sibeko, will provide insights into how women actually used the microbicide.

Read the full article on http://allafrica.com.