Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian Online - February 20, 2008
The first microbicide to reach the final phase of testing has failed to prevent HIV transmission, researchers announced this week. Testing of the microbicide, Carraguard, was carried out over a three-year period on 6 000 women in South Africa and was completed in March last year. But there was no difference in HIV infections between women in the group using Carraguard compared with the placebo group. "The trial ... was unable to demonstrate Carraguard's efficacy in preventing HIV transmission," noted Dr Khatija Ahmed, principal investigator of the trial. She suggested that the low adherence rate could have been a factor: women who participated in the study used Carraguard less than half the number of times they had sex. However, condom use shot up from 33% when the study began, to 64%.
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