First drug to PREVENT HIV found

... and even better, the drug is already on the market and currently being used to treat patients already infected with HIV.

The drug is Truvada and in a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control. The study was done with HIV negative gay men in different countries. Half were given Truvada, the other half a placebo. They were asked to take the pill once a day - though many of the men did not manage keep to that schedule. (But they were able to identify that with pill counts and blood tests.) A quick rundown of some of the results regarding HIV transmission:

• 44% fewer HIV positive conversions comparing the entire Truvada group vs. the placebo group.
• 75% fewer conversions for men who took the drug at least 90% of the time.
• Based on the results, they concluded that if all the men had taken the drug 100% of the time, there would have been 92% fewer conversions.

So, the good news is that the drug already exists and is on the market. They are currently working up guidelines for doctors that want to prescribe this for the patients who are HIV negative.

The bad news is that the drug is expensive - about $30 a day (for the rest of your sexually active life). And since it is a preventative, it falls outside of many health plans.

I love the fact that they think they found a drug that could prevent HIV...but does anyone think the method they did the testing unethical? I mean, "Hey try this drug...it could prevent HIV"...later on they get HIV and find out they were on a placebo.

jon13lee said:

I love the fact that they think they found a drug that could prevent HIV...but does anyone think the method they did the testing unethical? I mean, "Hey try this drug...it could prevent HIV"...later on they get HIV and find out they were on a placebo.

Click to expand...

FYI - They told people in both groups to still practice safe sex. Of course, human nature being what it is - some would and some wouldn't. But the point is that the placebo group was no more vulnerable than the general gay population.