September 2, 2015 - San Francisco, CA - PR Newswire. In one of the first and largest published evaluations of the use of preexposure prophylaxis (known as PrEP) to prevent HIV infection in a clinical practice setting, researchers at Kaiser Permanente found no new HIV infections among patients during more than 2.5 years of observation. The study was published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
"Our study is the first to extend the understanding of the use of PrEP in a real-world setting and suggests that the treatment may prevent new HIV infections even in a high-risk setting," reported lead author Jonathan Volk, MD, MPH, physician and epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center. "Until now, evidence supporting the efficacy of PrEP to prevent HIV infection had come from clinical trials and a demonstration project."
In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a fixed-dose treatment of the antiviral drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir for daily use in combination with safer sex practices as a way of preventing HIV infection in people who do not have HIV, but are at high risk of getting it. When someone is exposed to HIV through sexual activity or injection drug use, these medications in a single pill, known commercially as Truvada, can keep an infection from becoming permanent. Continue reading...