AIDS Prevention: Pill Cuts HIV Infection Risk Up to 70%
source: http://www.theblogismine.com/2010/11/24/aids-prevention-pill-cuts-hiv-infection-risk-up-to-70/
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In a finding that is being widely hailed as the first major prevention breakthrough in the AIDS era, researchers have shown that taking a single daily pill containing two HIV drugs can reduce risk of contracting the virus by an average of 44% — and by more than 70% if the subjects take most of their pills.
The study involved nearly 2,500 high-risk gay men, but experts hope that the results will be applicable to other populations considered at risk for contracting the virus. Several studies are already underway to determine if that is the case.
The findings, reported online Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, come only a few months after an African study showed that a microbicidal gel can help protect women from contracting the virus and a little more than a year after a vaccine trial suggested that it may eventually be possible to raise antibodies against the virus.
“To see all these prevention strategies come together, we can begin to see an end to the epidemic,” said A. Cornelius Baker of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. “The National AIDS Strategy introduced by the president in July called for reducing the U.S. epidemic by 25%. … If we can prove this works and get this strategy into the communities, we can reach that goal much quicker than we had anticipated and move even further to more goals.”
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was the major sponsor of the study, cautioned, however, that “No single prevention strategy is going to be effective for everyone, and it is important to note that the new findings pertain only to … men who have sex with men.”
More: http://www.theblogismine.com/2010/11/24/aids-prevention-pill-cuts-hiv-infection-...
The study involved nearly 2,500 high-risk gay men, but experts hope that the results will be applicable to other populations considered at risk for contracting the virus. Several studies are already underway to determine if that is the case.
The findings, reported online Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, come only a few months after an African study showed that a microbicidal gel can help protect women from contracting the virus and a little more than a year after a vaccine trial suggested that it may eventually be possible to raise antibodies against the virus.
“To see all these prevention strategies come together, we can begin to see an end to the epidemic,” said A. Cornelius Baker of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. “The National AIDS Strategy introduced by the president in July called for reducing the U.S. epidemic by 25%. … If we can prove this works and get this strategy into the communities, we can reach that goal much quicker than we had anticipated and move even further to more goals.”
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was the major sponsor of the study, cautioned, however, that “No single prevention strategy is going to be effective for everyone, and it is important to note that the new findings pertain only to … men who have sex with men.”
More: http://www.theblogismine.com/2010/11/24/aids-prevention-pill-cuts-hiv-infection-...
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