Study Finds Antiretroviral Drugs May Prevent HIV Infection, Name-Based HIV Reporting Doesn't Deter Testing, Tests of New Vaginal Microbicide Gel Show Promise for Women

Study Finds Antiretroviral Drugs May Prevent HIV Infection A study involving monkeys found that the use of 2 antiretroviral drugs, emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir, prevented transmission of a primate version of HIV (Berman J. Voice of America. February 5, 2008). Lead researcher Walid Heneine of the CDC and colleagues injected macaques with single daily doses of FTC and then exposed them once a week for 14 weeks to simian HIV (SHIV). Compared with untreated primates, FTC reduced the risk of infection 3.8-fold. The scientists then gave the macaques oral doses of FTC and tenofovir, resulting in a 7.8-fold lowering of SHIV infection risk.