HPTN 039: The Partners in Prevention Sister Study

In addition to the Partners in Prevention study, the same group of University of Washington investigators conducted a "sister" study examining whether suppressive therapy of genital HSV-2 infections makes HIV uninfected people less likely to acquire HIV. The sister study, called HPTN 039, involved over 3,000 volunteers with HSV-2 infection, including women and men who have sex with men.

Recent article in The Lancet by Connie Celum

Effect of aciclovir on HIV-1 acquisition in herpes simplex virus 2 seropositive women and men who have sex with men: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Click here to read the Summary

About the Study

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $30 million grant to the University of Washington School of Medicine for an unprecedented study at 10 sites in Africa, India, and Latin America to determine whether suppressing genital herpes can significantly reduce HIV transmission.

The study will be the first ever to evaluate whether it is possible to reduce transmission of HIV-1 by treating genital herpes with acyclovir, a widely used and generically available medication. Researchers theorize that the treatment could reduce HIV transmission by 50 percent. If successful, the study could lead to an important new approach to HIV prevention in the developing world.

Gates Foundation Press Release

E-mail: hsvhiv@u.washington.edu