Soap and Water Can Reduce HIV Infectivity

Postcoital cleansing with soap and water can inactivate HIV in genital secretions with two to six minutes of exposure to soap significantly reducing HIV infectivity, according to a study in the October issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, tested the effectiveness of Ivory brand bar soap and tap water on HIV and white blood cells in cervicovaginal fluid and a mixture of cervicovaginal fluid and semen. A solution of soap and tap water caused a 30-fold inactivation of HIV and a reduction in viable peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 57% after two minutes of exposure and 87% after six minutes, according to the study. 'The main message of this research is that regular soap works to kill HIV,' study coauthor Jay Levy told Reuters Health. 'Its major use in this regard should be on other instruments, such as diaphragms, used to prevent HIV transmission.'