Microbicides, of course, will never provide the long-term protection afforded by a vaccine should one ever be developed.
"The results of the CAPRISA study are important and of considerable significance for the field of microbicides, " Fauci said.
Indeed, amid the gloom about microbicides and vaccines, circumcision is the one bright spot in the field of AIDS prevention.
It is also important to increase access to female-controlled prevention methods, such as the female condom, and to develop effective microbicides and vaccines.
The CAPRISA 004 study showed the antiretroviral-based vaginal microbicides to be safe and effective in reducing risks of new HIV infections among women by nearly 40 percent.
Microbicides offer more choice and control and research has shown that women and their partners in both the developed and the developing world want this type of product for HIV prevention.
Mathematical modelling suggests that if microbicides were used by only 20% of women at risk, and were used only half the time, this would still prevent more than 2.5m infections over three years.
But Dr Rosenberg believes that at least some of the substances being considered as microbicides could be packaged into slow-release rings that a woman could wear in her vagina for a month or more.
Microbicides, which are currently being tested as foams and gels, but might eventually be stored in rings that would fit around the neck of the cervix, work by killing the virus before it gets into the body.
The first microbicides may prove a little awkward to use, since they would come in the form of gels or foaming pessaries that would need to be applied not more than a few hours before a sexual encounter.
In addition to many great oral sessions and poster sessions, the conference has been electrified by several major research breakthroughs with implications for vaccines to prevent HIV as well as microbicides to protect women from becoming infected by their male partners.
WHITEHOUSE: Bringing the International AIDS Conference to DC in 2012
The therapy is not yet ready for widespread use, but the finding is a giant step forward in the use of microbicides, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
应用推荐