ONCE a Cinderella subject, creams that block HIV infection during sex have now become a major focus of AIDS research. But at the Microbicides 2004 conference in London last week, it was clear that many hurdles will have to be overcome before any become available.
Prevention campaigns focus on condoms, but not everyone is happy to use them and many women, especially in developing countries, cannot insist that their partners wear condoms. Hence the interest in microbicides, or “chemical condoms”, in the form of a cream or pessary that women could apply before sex to destroy the virus or stop…
