‘Chemical Condoms’ Could Block HIV Transmission, Johns Hopkins Scientists Say

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report on the development of "promising" chemical compounds that could prevent HIV transmission in this month's issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Baltimore Sun reports. The compounds, which would act as "chemical condoms," may be able to prevent HIV transmission from a man to a woman by blocking the virus as it enters the vagina, the scientists said. The scientists said that a chemical called beta-CD was 95% effective in blocking HIV transmission in tests on a mouse that they developed for the experiment. The compounds must be tested on monkeys before clinical trials on humans can begin, Dr. James Hildreth, study researcher and pharmacologist, said (Baltimore Sun, 1/17).