Health Issue: New Type OF Virus Vaginal gel

Vaginal gel may offer

shield against AIDS virus

       In a test on monkeys, a vaginal microbicide based on a new type of anti-HIV drug could offer significant protect5ion against infection with a virus similar to HIV, researchers have found.

            The study is the first of a gel with an integrase inhibitor, one of the latest additions to the arsenal of drugs for the treatment of HIV but just one of the many compounds or drug combination that researchers are hoping will be a stronghold for HIV prevention.

            The vaginal microbicide gel containing the drug L-870812, from antiretrovirals (ARVs), provided significant protection in preventing vaginal transmission of simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) - a combination of HIV and a related monkey virus - among macaques, reported harles Dobard, and Walid Heneine, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

           Integrase inhibitors, the latest weapon in the HIV treatment armamentarium, stop HIV from incorporating its genetic information into the DNA of an infected T cell, heading on HIV's master plan to hijack all future generations of cells. Tests showed it would protect a female from sexual transmission for about four hours. "You couldn't apply these gels in the morning and have protection in the evening," Moore said.