Register for Successful Treatment Reduces HIV Infection Risk
CervicitisMarch 15, 2001
2001 MAR 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Successful treatment of bacterial cervix inflammation reduces the risk of HIV transmission, say AIDS researchers in the United States.
R.S. McClelland and colleagues at the University of Washington compared the presence of HIV genetic material in cervical secretions before and after successful therapy for cervicitis.
HIV material was much less likely to be shed in mucosal secretions after resolution of the inflammation, McClelland et al. reported in the journal AIDS. This was true of women infected with either gonorrhea or chlamydia, as well as women with non-specific cervicitis, study data showed.
The women studied were treated at an STD clinic in Kenya ("Treatment of cervicitis is associated with decreased cervical shedding of HIV-1," AIDS, 2001;15(1):105-110).
Both HIV infected cells and raw HIV genetic material were present in reduced quantities after successful cervicitis treatment, the researchers noted.
The prevalence of HIV infected cells in cervical secretions dropped by almost 30% after inflammation resolution, they said, while levels of HIV-RNA were reduced almost 10-fold.
"Treatment of sexually transmitted diseases may be an important means of decreasing the infectivity of HIV-1 seropositive women by reducing exposure to HIV-1 in genital secretions," McClelland and colleagues concluded.
The corresponding author for this report is R.S. McClelland, University of Washington, Dept. of Medicine, International AIDS Research and Training Program, Box 359909, 325 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
Key points reported in this study include:
* Cervicitis treatment can reduce the risk of HIV transmission
* Successful resolution of the inflammation significantly reduced cervical secretions of HIV infected cells and RNA
* This was true for women infected with gonorrhea and/or chlamydia as well as women with non-specific cervicitis
This article was prepared by Women's Health Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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