Safety and Acceptability of Carraguard™ Among HIV-negative Couples in Thailand

Inclusion Criteria: * · In good health, * Aged 18 years or older, * Resident for at least 1 year; planning to stay for at least 12 months, * HIV-seronegative and free of all other STD at initial screening exam, * No reported sex partners other than current partner for prior year and and not planning on having any other sex partners for the duration of the study, * Not using condoms routinely (\>25% of the time) in the prior year * Willing and able to comply with the study protocol (including being tested for HIV, learning the results, agreeing to partner notification if a curable STD is diagnosed, and undergoing clinical evaluations), * Able to achieve a score of 80% or better on true-false test of key study concepts, and * Able to give informed consent. * Planning to have vaginal sexual intercourse together on average at least once per week during the next six months. Exclusion Criteria: * · Pregnant or desire to become pregnant at time of study participation, * Delivered or aborted a pregnancy within the six weeks prior to screening, * Male sex partner known at enrollment to be HIV positive, * History of surgery on external genitalia, vagina or cervix in the six weeks prior to screening, * Recent history of non-menstrual vaginal bleeding with intercourse, * Clinically detectable genital abnormality (including presence of warts, or a structural or congenital abnormality), * Genital epithelial disruption; men/women with healed lesions (intac…