Magic Anti-HIV Gel May Also Protect Against Herpes
LatestLast year AIDS researchers gave fellow scientists a standing ovation when they announced they’d developed a gel that reduced HIV infections by 39%. Now a new study has proven that the product can also protect against herpes. The gel was originally intended to cut HIV infection rates in Africa, but now there’s talk of bringing it to the U.S. too.
Tenofovir, the active ingredient in the gel, doesn’t offer total protection from these STDs, but it’s a huge development because women can use it on their own, even without their partner’s knowledge. The New York Times reports that last year a trial conducted in South Africa found that in addition to reducing HIV infections, it cut herpes infections by 51%. In women who used the gel consistently, those figures jumped to a 54% protection rate for HIV and 62% for herpes. This year, researchers conducted a follow-up study in a lab to explain those results, and they’ve discovered that tenofovir can lower herpes viral levels by 99% in labratory cultures.