A recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that acyclovir doesn't reduce the risk of HIV among patients infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). The study included more than 3,000 people infected with HSV-2 and was conducted at nine sites worldwide, making it the largest study ever to examine herpes suppression as a possible way to reduce HIV risk.
   Volunteers were male and female and included heterosexuals and men who have sex with men. They received either acyclovir 400 mg twice daily or a placebo. They also received extensive HIV-prevention counseling and were supplied with condoms. Among those who received acyclovir, the HIV infection rate was 3.9%. Among those who received the placebo, the rate was 3.3%.
   Multiple studies suggest that HSV-2 increases the risk of HIV infection, both because HSV-2 causes genital lesions and because it attracts to the genitals immune cells that are easily infected by HIV. Although this study didn't show that HSV-2 suppression reduces HIV risk, it did confirm that acyclovir reduces the occurrence of genital herpes lesions.

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