The new tablets, which can reduce the risk of the disease by 86%, contain two drugs against AIDS. Participants in one study took two pills a few hours before sexual intercourse. A third tablet followed the next day, and a fourth the next day. This study was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. A preliminary version of the results was presented at the annual meeting of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Scientists have been using such drugs against AIDS for 20 years to treat HIV-positive people. The health insurance company has been covering the therapy since September 1st after the miracle pill PrEP was approved in the USA.
Effective drugs against AIDS
Doctors have known for several years that people can reduce their risk of HIV infection by taking a daily pill called Truvada. Studies of men who have sex with men showed that this prevention strategy, called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, reduced the risk of HIV transmission by 92%. In a study of intravenous drug users, PrEP reduced the risk of HIV infection by 70%. However, until now, doctors didn't know whether taking it would work on specific sexual encounters. This also raised the question of whether the pills should be taken daily. The new study adds to a growing list ofHIV prevention strategies.
Research has shown that treating HIV can prevent it from spreading. People who control their disease with medication can reduce the amount of virus in their blood to low levels. This then becomes too low to be detected using standard tests. Those who do have almost no risk of spreading the virus to others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Actor Charlie Sheen, who revealed he has HIV, said his virus is undetectable, making it extremely unlikely that he would pass the virus on to his sexual partners. The actor also said that his doctor also takes care of his sexual partners. A former friend, Amanda Bruce, has publicly stated that she is taking AIDS medication to prevent HIV infection.
Possible protection through pills without a condom
In Africa, studies have found that taking the drugs can reduce a man's risk of becoming infected with HIV by 60%, according to the World Health Organization. Circumcision has been promoted as a relatively inexpensive strategy to combat HIV in developing countries, where a one-time operation may be more accessible and affordable than daily medication. In the U.S., PrEP is a good option for people who don't use condoms regularly, said Mark Milano, HIV educator at ACRIA, a New York-based AIDS organization.
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