We stumbled across this interesting article about researchers at the University of Utah and Duke University who are working on a gel for women that could block the HIV virus from entering the blood stream. Here is an excerpt below:
The project is led by Dr. Patrick Kiser, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Utah, along with colleagues in the Microbicide Delivery Lab at Utah and at Duke University where Kiser earned his doctorate. The goal of the research is to develop a method of protecting women against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases without relying on their partners to use condoms. This is particularly important in the Sub-Saharan portions of Africa where the incidence of HIV and AIDS is extremely high and condom use is fairly low.
The gel works by reacting to the change in pH level when semen enters the vagina. The acidic conditions prior to intercourse keeps the gel in its liquid form, ensuring enough motility to coat the vagina walls. The semen lowers the acidity and the molecules in the gel react to the change by turning into a semi-solid mesh. The holes in the mesh are so small that viral particles cannot penetrate it to reach the vaginal walls.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder how this will work to shape sex and promiscuity? I think that this type of prevention is great in that it would give women more power over the actual act. For women caught up in a marraige where they think thier husband might be cheating this gel will help to protect the woman from possibily contracting hiv.
i hope it works with few side affects. and i wish they would help people with manic depression, that is an awful illness that is hereditary, carried by blood also.
I am so glad to see this because women are the hardest hit of new HIV/AIDS infections. We are so susceptible to these STD’s…THis is great!!
i do want to know How many things DO we have to put in us, ingest and use…FIND something for these men to use. its getting expensive for us to buy pads, birth control, infection meds, now gels….and these men dont pay any expenses for anything…FIND something for them to use. BUT i am Grateful ffor this still.