Level of HIV in genital fluid increases transmission

• April 18, 2024

Recent studies confirm that the risk of transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV ) increases depending on the level of virus that is in the semen and in the cervical fluid , between heterosexual couples, published the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Researchers obtained samples of genital fluid of more than 2 thousand 500 African couples. Most were married or lived together, and one subject within the pair was infected with HIV. At the end of the 2-year study, 78 couples were infected with the virus .

The study analyzed and compared the cervical fluid and of semen of the samples of those couples who had transmitted the virus, with the samples of men and women who had not transmitted it and found that the risk of HIV transmission doubled with the first samples.

It has never been more clearly established before, that more HIV increases the probability of transmission, mentions the Dr. Jared M. Baeten from the University of Washington in Seattle, United States.

The results are very important to create new strategies against infection that causes AIDS, said Baeten. "We can develop strategies to reduce HIV levels only in the genital tract , not in the blood, like microbicides "he warned.

Now the experts will be able to study both the couples They infected their partners, like those who did not, and try to understand the natural protection of the penis, vagina and rectum to ensure survival.

However, the study did not analyze the incidence rate of the virus transmitted through the blood, and was only applied in couples heterosexuals

Video Medicine: Medical Animation: HIV and AIDS (April 2024).