There was no seminal contamination of CVS in only 10 of the 342 HIV negative women. CVS obtained from these women were extensively studied and found to have high levels of HIV antibodies. Researchers found that only 7.5 percent in a population of 342 HIV-exposed women had HIV antibodies in their genital tract. These observations suggest that those women who did not show evidence of semen from a potentially infected partner, had a compartmentalized immune response without becoming infected. This is an area of significance in the development of an HIV vaccine.
Prior investigation shows that plasma and genital viral loads can be different.
Researchers obtained several consecutive CVS samples from 55 HIV-infected women. Investigators concluded that samples obtained from the endocervical cells were more sensitive and more stable than CVL for assessing the viral load levels in the genital tract. Liliana Eagan supervises AIDS Project Los Angeles' HIV Resource Center.