--- title: HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex | TIME description: Scientists admit more testing is necessary, but a gel that could protect women from the spread of HIV is one step closer to the marketplace. The difference between this study and others on prevention gels? This gel was applied and tested after sex. canonical: https://time.com/video/VUoubxMc/ og:title: HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex og:description: Scientists admit more testing is necessary, but a gel that could protect women from the spread of HIV is one step closer to the marketplace. The difference between this study and others on prevention gels? This gel was applied and tested after sex. og:url: https://time.com/video/VUoubxMc/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VUoubxMc/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex twitter:description: Scientists admit more testing is necessary, but a gel that could protect women from the spread of HIV is one step closer to the marketplace. The difference between this study and others on prevention gels? This gel was applied and tested after sex. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VUoubxMc/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex [Watch (HLS stream): HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VUoubxMc.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2014-03-13. Scientists admit more testing is necessary, but a gel that could protect women from the spread of HIV is one step closer to the marketplace. The difference between this study and others on prevention gels? This gel was applied and tested after sex._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:18 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Ciara on lending her song "1, 2 Step" to promote HIV prevention ](/video/CEQFQyu6/) ### Ciara on lending her song "1, 2 Step" to promote HIV prevention [For the First Time, an Expert Panel Is Recommending a Drug to Prevent High-Risk Groups From Getting HIV](/video/BxUK7LUD/) ### For the First Time, an Expert Panel Is Recommending a Drug to Prevent High-Risk Groups From Getting HIV [Scientists Say Toddler Has Been Cured of HIV](/video/4BleJXco/) ### Scientists Say Toddler Has Been Cured of HIV --- ## Transcript Scientists admit much more testing is necessary, but a gel that could protect women from the spread of HIV is one step closer to the marketplace. The difference between this study and others on HIV prevention gels, this gel was applied and tested after sex. Researchers, mostly from the CDC, concluded the gel protected five out of six female monkeys when applied up to three hours after infection. Scientists expressed excitement at the gel which acts on the HIV virus later in its life cycle, but they stressed cautious optimism. One of the CDC's lead researchers, Dr. Charles Debard, told the BBC, studies still need to be done to look at the window of opportunity. Is it six, eight, 24 hours. The study, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, noted that to this point, microbicides have contained entry or reverse inhibitors that block early steps in virus infection. And thus need to be given as a preexposure dose that interferes with sexual practices and may limit compliance. You might interpret that as researchers saying, other gels ruin the mood. But they have a much more serious endgame. In Africa, researchers say 60 percent of HIV patients are women. Almost all of them infected by their husbands or other partners. As NBC puts it: Women need a way to protect themselves from the virus, especially for victims of rape and in societies where they cannot demand that their husbands or other men wear a condom. Researchers cautioned much larger human trials on microbicide gels are still needed, and condoms continue to provide the best protection, by far, against HIV. Thanks for watching, I'm Cliff Judy. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"HIV Prevention Gel Might Protect Women Even After Sex","description":"Scientists admit more testing is necessary, but a gel that could protect women from the spread of HIV is one step closer to the marketplace. The difference between this study and others on prevention gels? 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