Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Oral Combinational Antiretroviral Treatment in HIV-1 Infected Humanized Mice
06:07

Oral Combinational Antiretroviral Treatment in HIV-1 Infected Humanized Mice

Published on: October 6, 2022

Apples and oranges? Interpreting success in HIV prevention trials

Lori L Heise1, Charlotte Watts, Anna Foss

  • 1Social and Mathematical Epidemiology Group, Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,WC1H 9SH London, UK. lori.heise@lshtm.ac.uk

Contraception
|December 8, 2010
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Understanding HIV prevention product efficacy is crucial for policymakers. Different scientific fields interpret "efficacy" and "effectiveness" uniquely, potentially impacting assessments of new HIV prevention methods.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Health Technology Assessment

Background:

  • Numerous clinical trials for novel HIV prevention products have concluded or are nearing completion.
  • There is a lack of consensus on the required level of protection for introducing new HIV prevention strategies.
  • The term "efficacy" may be misapplied to user-controlled methods like microbicides, potentially misleading policymakers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the distinct interpretations of "efficacy" and "effectiveness" across family planning, vaccine science, and mathematical modeling.
  • To analyze how trial results for user-controlled HIV prevention products align with common understandings of these terms using mathematical models.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative review of terminology and assumptions in family planning, vaccine science, and mathematical modeling.
  • Application of simple mathematical models to explore the relationship between trial outcomes and conceptual definitions of efficacy and effectiveness.

Main Results:

  • Each scientific field utilizes different assumptions, evidence bases, and expectations when interpreting efficacy and effectiveness.
  • Divergent interpretations across fields can complicate the informed assessment of emerging data on HIV prevention products.

Conclusions:

  • Judgments on the utility of new health technologies require appropriate comparative standards.
  • Consideration of the local epidemic context and available alternative interventions is essential for evaluating new health technologies.

More Related Videos

Humanized NOD/SCID/IL2rγnull (hu-NSG) Mouse Model for HIV Replication and Latency Studies07:10

Humanized NOD/SCID/IL2rγnull (hu-NSG) Mouse Model for HIV Replication and Latency Studies

Published on: January 7, 2019

Humanized NOG Mice for Intravaginal HIV Exposure and Treatment of HIV Infection08:15

Humanized NOG Mice for Intravaginal HIV Exposure and Treatment of HIV Infection

Published on: January 31, 2020

Related Concept Videos

Retrovirus Life Cycles01:10

Retrovirus Life Cycles

Retroviruses have a single-stranded RNA genome that undergoes a special form of replication. Once the retrovirus has entered the host cell, an enzyme called reverse transcriptase synthesizes double-stranded DNA from the retroviral RNA genome. This DNA copy of the genome is then integrated into the host’s genome inside the nucleus via an enzyme called integrase. Consequently, the retroviral genome is transcribed into RNA whenever the host’s genome is transcribed, allowing the retrovirus to...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches01:23

Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches

Biopharmaceutical studies constitute a vital field aiming to enhance drug delivery methods and refine therapeutic approaches, drawing upon diverse interdisciplinary knowledge. In research methodologies, the choice between controlled and non-controlled studies significantly influences the study's reliability and accuracy.
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
What is an Experiment?01:12

What is an Experiment?

An experiment is a planned activity carried out under controlled conditions. The purpose of an experiment is to investigate the relationship between two variables. When one variable causes change in another, we call the first variable the explanatory or independent variable. The affected variable is called the response or dependent variable. In a randomized experiment, the researcher manipulates values of the explanatory variable and measures the resulting changes in the response variable. The...
Comparing the Survival Analysis of Two or More Groups01:20

Comparing the Survival Analysis of Two or More Groups

Survival analysis is a cornerstone of medical research, used to evaluate the time until an event of interest occurs, such as death, disease recurrence, or recovery. Unlike standard statistical methods, survival analysis is particularly adept at handling censored data—instances where the event has not occurred for some participants by the end of the study or remains unobserved. To address these unique challenges, specialized techniques like the Kaplan-Meier estimator, log-rank test, and Cox...
Clinical Trials01:16

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are prospective experimental studies conducted on humans to determine the safety and efficacy of treatments, drugs, diet methods, and medical devices. Using statistics in clinical trials enables researchers to derive reasonable and accurate conclusions from the collected data, allowing them to make wise decisions in uncertain situations. In medical research, statistical methods are crucial for preventing errors and bias.
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Clinical Trials: Overview01:11

Clinical Trials: Overview

Clinical development focuses on how the drug will interact with the human body and encompasses four key phases of clinical trials, each serving a specific purpose in assessing the safety and effectiveness of new drugs. These phases overlap and build upon one another. Phase I involves a small group of healthy volunteers (typically 20-80 individuals) or, in cases where significant toxicity is expected, patients with the targeted disease, such as cancer or AIDS. The volunteers are tested for...