New Delhi:
A major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that using anti-retroviral drugs among high risk populations can cut the risk of getting infected among non-HIV positive people by half.
It is a breakthrough that is likely to impact AIDS prevention policies across the world. The Preexposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEx) study conducted by the Gladstone Institutes in the US looked at the impact of using anti-AIDS drugs to bring down infections among the most vulnerable populations.
The first of its kind, the trial, which began in 2007, used a new HIV prevention method called pre-exposure prophylaxis. Healthy individuals, who were at high risk, were given a single tablet of Truvada containing two widely used HIV medicines daily to see whether they would contract the disease.
A total of 2499 men who have sex with men and transgenders participated in the trial
While 64 infections were reported among the 1,248 study participants who received a placebo
36 developed the disease among the 1251 people who got the study drug,
cutting down HIV infections by nearly half (43.8%)
The study found that pre-exposure prophylaxis was more protective among those who took the pill regularly.
This a landmark in the field of AIDS research. It opens up the possibilities of cutting down transmission and new infections significantly.
"It has shown wonderful results actually. So PrEP that particular trial has given second time promise to people in this field. So basically I think there is hope this is the first PREP trail which have shown good results, so this year is good for prevention scientists," said Dr Debashish Mitra.
But some scientists say there are risks attached to pre-exposure prophylaxis. Many people may choose to pop a pill instead of engaging in safe behaviour. Besides, frequent users could also develop drug resistance if the drug is not used consistently.
"The drug should be taken according to the proper dose otherwise it will create drug escape mutant virus which are resistant to these popular drugs," said Dr Shahid Jameel.
Despite these worries, the mood is upbeat among researchers. Following several setbacks, this is the second breakthrough in the fields of AIDS prevention this year. In August, a microbicide trial in South Africa showed that it could prevent infections in healthy women. Scientists hope these preventive tools will help strengthen the fight agaisnt AIDS.
It is a breakthrough that is likely to impact AIDS prevention policies across the world. The Preexposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEx) study conducted by the Gladstone Institutes in the US looked at the impact of using anti-AIDS drugs to bring down infections among the most vulnerable populations.
The first of its kind, the trial, which began in 2007, used a new HIV prevention method called pre-exposure prophylaxis. Healthy individuals, who were at high risk, were given a single tablet of Truvada containing two widely used HIV medicines daily to see whether they would contract the disease.
A total of 2499 men who have sex with men and transgenders participated in the trial
While 64 infections were reported among the 1,248 study participants who received a placebo
36 developed the disease among the 1251 people who got the study drug,
cutting down HIV infections by nearly half (43.8%)
The study found that pre-exposure prophylaxis was more protective among those who took the pill regularly.
This a landmark in the field of AIDS research. It opens up the possibilities of cutting down transmission and new infections significantly.
"It has shown wonderful results actually. So PrEP that particular trial has given second time promise to people in this field. So basically I think there is hope this is the first PREP trail which have shown good results, so this year is good for prevention scientists," said Dr Debashish Mitra.
But some scientists say there are risks attached to pre-exposure prophylaxis. Many people may choose to pop a pill instead of engaging in safe behaviour. Besides, frequent users could also develop drug resistance if the drug is not used consistently.
"The drug should be taken according to the proper dose otherwise it will create drug escape mutant virus which are resistant to these popular drugs," said Dr Shahid Jameel.
Despite these worries, the mood is upbeat among researchers. Following several setbacks, this is the second breakthrough in the fields of AIDS prevention this year. In August, a microbicide trial in South Africa showed that it could prevent infections in healthy women. Scientists hope these preventive tools will help strengthen the fight agaisnt AIDS.
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