Gates Foundation grants $30 million for UW HIV-herpes study
July 30, 2003
Gates Foundation grants $30 million for UW HIV-herpes study
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $30 million to the UW School of Medicine Thursday for a study to establish of the effects of genital herpes on HIV transmission.
The study, which will begin in 2004, will take place at 10 sites in Africa, India and Latin America.
In particular, the study will test the effectiveness of the medication Acyclovir, a widely used treatment for genital herpes.
The study will register 3,600 monogamous couples in which one partner is infected with HIV and also with genital herpes. The infected partner will be given either a dose of Acyclovir or a placebo twice a day. The study will last 12 months, and each couple will have access to screening and treatment for other sexually transmitted diseases.
Studies have indicated that genital herpes is a risk factor in the transmission of HIV virus, and researchers hypothesize that treatment with Acyclovir could cut transmission in half, according to a news release.
About 50 percent of people with HIV are also infected with herpes, and these people are more likely to infect others due to their sores. Likewise, people with genital herpes are about twice as likely to become infected with HIV if exposed to the disease.
The implications of the study for HIV prevention in developing countries are phenomenal.
"It would probably be within the budget of the hardest-hit countries to distribute the treatment," said Paul Farley, research coordinator and assistant to Dr. Connie Celum, principal researcher of the study.
Many of the current treatments are too expensive for people in Third World countries to afford, he added.
"If the treatment works, it could have a fairly substantial impact on the population," he said.
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