South African experts announce failure of first anti-AIDS anti-virus test

, the world's first anti-AIDS gel anti-virus anti-virus, CARRAGUARD, has been shown to be ineffective and cannot prevent the spread of HIV, South African researchers said ThursdayResearchers at the University of Cape Town in South Africa say the formulation is made from kelp extract and is used to fight HIV in thereproductive organs ofwomenThe researchers tested more than 6
,
women with the antidote in South Africa50 per cent of them used the,the rest of theusing a placeboIn addition
all these women received condomsAfter a period of, there were 134 new cases of HIV infection inwomen using antidote
and 151 such cases in women using placebos, a difference that is not statistically significant Alana de Kock, who led the trial at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said the result was that the anti-AIDS anti-virus was ineffective The trial in South Africa was organized and managed by the Population Council, a New York-based international research institution Early laboratory studies and animal experiments have shown that the effects of this anti-AIDS antidote are very encouraging However, that is all done in a controlled environment, and clinical trials face more challenges, and the current results are that they do not work CARRAGUARD is the world's first anti-AIDS anti-virus agent to conduct phase III clinical trials