Kourtis AP, et al. - In Lilongwe, Malawi, HIV-infected women were randomly allocated to depomedroxyprogesterone acetate injectable or levonorgestrel implant in a clinical trial and were followed for up to 33 months to assess how either impact HIV transmission. Researchers sought to compare the frequency and degree of HIV genital shedding before and after start of contraception and between study arms in 68 Malawian women who were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Outcomes revealed no impact of progestin contraception on women's risk of transmission of HIV to partners. Detectable genital shedding prior to contraceptive initiation was noted to have an independent predictive value for shedding. This suggests that the risk for shedding is increased in correlation to other individual-level biological or behavioral factors.