Study Finds Protection Against HIV With This Device

It seems vaginal rings may protect against more than just pregnancy.

Two studies released this week found that a monthly vaginal ring packed with the antiretroviral drug, Dapivirine, can significantly reduce HIV infection rates, reports The New York Times.

In The Ring Study, led by the International Partnership for Microbicides, safely reduced HIV infection rates by 31 percent – compared to a placebo.

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More than 1,900 HIV-negative women, ages 18 to 45, participated in the study at sites across South Africa and Uganda.

Another 2,629 HIV-negative women in the same age group participated in a second study, ASPIRE, led by the US National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network. The study sites were in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

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The results of the ASPIRE study saw a safe reduction in HIV infection rates by 27 percent.

Also, the ASPIRE study showed a reduction in HIV risk by 61 percent in women older than 21. These women appeared to use the ring more consistently, according to IPM.

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More testing, however, is still needed before the ring is available widely. HIV advocacy group, AVAC, recommends that preventive pills be made more available to women in Africa in the meantime.

HIV continues to affect millions of people across the world every day. In 2014, according to the World Health Organization, 1.2 million people died from HIV-related complications.

Sub-Saharan African, where these two studies took place, is the most affected region in the world – which stresses the importance of these findings for public health safety.

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There were about 25.8 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan African in 2014. About 70 percent of HIV infections across the world are in sub-Saharan Africa.

HIV, or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, attacks the immune system until it weakens the body’s ability to fight off infections. HIV can develop into its most advanced stage, AIDS, of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

There is no cure for HIV, which can be transmitted through bodily fluids from infected people.

According to WHO, expanding the accessibility of antiretroviral therapy to those living with HIV can help prevent 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.

Here are some additional facts about HIV:

• Only approximately 54 percent of people living with HIV actually know their status.
• New HIV infections declined between 2000 and 2015.
• AIDS-related deaths also declined by 24 percent as about 7.8 million lives were saved due to international efforts
• People living with HIV tend to be the most infectious during the first few months of contracted the virus.
• In those few first weeks of contracting the virus, symptoms can range from none to fevers, headaches, rashes and sore throat.
• Progressive symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhea and cough
• Without treatment, people living with HIV can develop tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, cancer and other severe illnesses.