Vaginal ring: New way to prevent spread of HIV discovered
-Ojo Oluwasegun
An object has been designed and tested capable of limiting the spread of HIV during sexual intercourse.
The success of the said object was announced by Scientists in US.
Success was said to have been recorded when a test was carried out on teenage girls in the US and plans are currently ongoing to carry out the test in Africa.
The vaginal ring which is said to prevent HIV infection contains anti-retroviral drug called dapivirine and is used for a month at a time.
Dapivirine inhibits HIV’s reverse transcriptase enzyme, a protein vital to HIV’s ability to replicate and cause an infection.
One or more microbicides are contained in each intravaginal ring that are intended to be delivered into the vaginal compartment at a high concentration and to be directly absorbed by the cells and tissues.
The usage of this flexible vaginal ring which sits on the cervix gives women the freedom to protect themselves without relying on men to wear condoms. The vaginal ring is said to cut infection by 56%.
The study concluded that the ring was safe and acceptable to young women, after a six-month trial to ascertain its effectiveness. The result revealed that 87 percent of ninety-six sexually active girls who partook had detectable levels of the drug in their vagina.
Principal investigator and vice chair of the department of obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Sharon Hillier said “HIV doesn’t distinguish between a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old. Access to safe and effective HIV prevention shouldn’t either, young women of all ages deserve to be protected.”
This would be the first method of prevention exclusively for women, if the ring gets regulatory approval.
The study was presented at the 9th International AIDS Society conference in Paris.
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