HEALTH NEWS: Gel Cuts Women’s Risk of Herpes, Study Finds. “A vaginal gel that sharply reduces a woman’s risk of infection with the AIDS virus is even more effective against genital herpes, a much more common risk for young American women, a new study has found. The study, by researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Gilead Sciences Inc. and universities in Belgium and Italy, suggests that the microbicide gel, which was originally developed to fight AIDS in Africa, could lower the incidence of herpes in many women.” Presumably there are benefits for men, too, though that wasn’t studied.