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A new pill that was created in order to prevent HIV infections has shown a lot of potential according to new studies.
Truvada (tenorovir-emtricitabine) is a new treatment that could in fact put an end to the spread of HIV and as of now is it approved in the Unites States. Researchers say that the pill could actually hinder the rate at which HIV spreads by an astonishing percentage of 92.
The drug was a success when tested in clinical environments, but some people were concerned whether Truvada would show the same results in real life situations.
Two new studies prove that the pill is indeed very effective even in a real world setting. In the first study, published in Clinical Infectious Disease, a number of 657 subjects from San Francisco, mostly gay men, were given a daily dose of Truvada. At the end of the treatment the results were as follows: none of the participants in the study contracted HIV.
The thing that sparked curiosity, however, was the fact that some of the participants in this research din contract other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), due to unsafe sexual activity, but no one contracted HIV.
Another study conducted by research teams from the United Kingdom has shown similar results. Experts say that those who took the medication were at much lower risk of getting infected with the virus. Infections calculated per 100 individuals, decreased from 9 to a staggering 2. According to researchers two thirds of of the participants in the study had likely contracted the virus before the study even began.
“The impressive reduction in HIV incidence in people taking PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), without a measurable increase in other sexually transmitted infections, is reassuring for clinical community, and public health stakeholders,” announced Sheena McCormack, professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University College London (ULC).
Truvada works as a two different drugs combined into one. It works by preventing the HIV-1 to multiply and spread inside the T cells or T lymphocytes which play an important role in cell-mediated immunity and are essential in fighting infections.
In today’s US about 1.3 million people are infected with HIV. What is even more concerning is that approximately 13 percent of those who are infected are unaware of the infection, meaning that they are carriers of the virus and could unknowingly transmit the disease. In the US the treatment for this disease can range from $2,500 to $5,000 per month, which makes it extremely expensive for many US citizens.
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