A new study shows that those groups of people who were given preventive HIV medications are less prone to be infected with the said disease.
In a new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the application of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is proven to be effective in preventing the HIV infection. The study also suggests that the optimum result will be only achieved when the patients take the medications regularly.
The study was divided into two parts; in the first phase of the study, 437 gay, bisexual men and transgender women were thoroughly examined. The subjects were said to have visited any sexually transmitted disease clinics in San Francisco and Miami, and also a community health center in Washington D.C. Each individual went to clinics between the year 2012 and 2015 and also received free tenofovir and emtricitabine for 48 weeks.
In the second phase of the study, 622 sexually active gays or bisexual men in Chicago were also examined.
The result of the first study shows that 80 percent of the participants were applying the PrEP therapy regularly to the aforementioned clinics. It was also found out that those individuals who are infected with HIV are taking the medication two or fewer times a week instead of the daily intake. The result also shows that the other sexually transmitted diseases remained constant for all the participants.
For the second study, it was found out that those who are not positive of HIV are rarely using the PREP treatment. Also, the survey showed that only 40 percent of the participants were aware the PrEP medications exist.
In a statement, Dr. Kenneth Mayer stated that gays and bisexual men should be counseled about the existence and importance of PrEP. He also added that pharmacy records suggest that there are almost ten thousand individuals who are currently using the medication which is considered a good thing.
Although PrEP medication is proven to be effective, the treatment can also offer some major problems like its expensiveness and its mild side effects.
