Health aNd Fitness Guide

Antiretroviral drugs used to treat people with HIV might also prevent vaginal transmission of the virus, claim researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. A majority of new HIV infections worldwide occur through unprotected vaginal sex with an infected partner.

The researchers used special mice with fully developed human immune systems that produced the infection-fighting cells specifically targeted by HIV in people. They found that daily doses of antiretroviral drugs before and after exposure to HIV could prevent vaginal transmission of the virus.

HIV was introduced vaginally into the mice. None of the mice that received the antiretroviral drugs emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate showed any evidence of infection; 90 per cent of mice that did not receive the drugs became infected by HIV.

Study author Dr J. Victor Garcia-Martinez says:

Our motivation is to look for interventions that can be implemented rapidly and have the potential to make a big difference. We don’t want something in 10 years. We want female-controlled prevention measures now. Our observations support the potential for antiviral drugs to function as an effective pre-exposure prophylaxis against the further spread of AIDS.