PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review discusses recent developments within the field of microbicide development and considers whether there are grounds to be hopeful that it will be possible to develop a microbicide for the prevention of HIV infection. RECENT FINDINGS Phase 2B/3 effectiveness studies of surfactant and polyanion vaginal microbicides have demonstrated modest or no effect against HIV in...

Although the HIV incidence rate has slowed in some countries, HIV remains a serious health challenge, particularly in the developing world. The epidemic is increasingly feminised, with young women at high risk of acquiring the virus. There is thus a clear requirement for acceptable woman-initiated methods of HIV prevention. Foremost among these are vaginally-applied substances known as microbic...

s / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 34 (2014) 100 100

INTRODUCTION Product adherence and its measurement have emerged as a critical challenge in the evaluation of new HIV prevention technologies. Long-acting ARV-based vaginal rings may simplify use instructions and require less user behaviour, thereby facilitating adherence. One ARV-based ring is in efficacy trials and others, including multipurpose rings, are in the pipeline. Participant motivati...

BACKGROUND New biomedical prevention technologies (NPTs) may contribute to substantially reducing incident HIV infections globally. We explored acceptability and preferences for NPTs among key and other vulnerable populations in two South African townships. METHODS We conducted six focus groups and 12 in-depth interviews with adolescents, and adult heterosexual men, women, and men who have se...

New contraceptive methods provide greater choice in terms of effectiveness, management of side-effects, convenience and frequency of administration and flexibility, but make the decisions about contraception more complex. There are limited data on the factors that determine women's choices among these alternatives, to inform providers about the factors which are most important to women, or to p...

Vaginal rings (VRs) are flexible, torus-shaped, polymeric devices designed to sustain delivery of pharmaceutical drugs to the vagina for clinical benefit. Following first report in a 1970 patent application, several steroid-releasing VR products have since been marketed for use in hormone replacement therapy and contraception. Since 2002, there has been growing interest in the use of VR technol...

Case Presentation: A 21-year-old woman presented for evaluation and management of heart failure resulting from a familial nondilated cardiomyopathy. A screening echocardiogram demonstrated a left ventricular ejection fraction of 30% to 35% with normal wall thicknesses, chamber sizes, and valvular function. On stress testing, she had good exertional tolerance and contractile reserve, but frequen...

PURPOSE A cylinder applicator is the standard treatment device for intravaginal brachytherapy. However, they are limited in their ability to simultaneously spare the organs at risk (OAR), and reduce the hot spot in the vaginal mucosa, while achieving adequate dose conformality. This study aims to compare the dosimetric characteristics of single and multi-channel cylinders, and utilizes volume p...

OBJECTIVE This study compared 84-day bleeding patterns after immediate initiation of a triphasic oral contraceptive with a 25-mug daily dose of ethinyl estradiol (E2) compared with the contraceptive vaginal ring, which has a 15-mug daily dose of ethinyl E2. METHODS This was an open-label controlled trial. We randomly assigned 201 women to immediate start of a contraceptive pill or immediate s...