Pills Effective in Preventing AIDS in 2 New Studies

[lizard-lix]

Two new studies released on Wednesday add to the growing body of evidence that taking a daily pill containing one or two AIDS drugs can keep an uninfected person from catching the fatal human immunodeficiency virus.

See the whole article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/health/research/14aids.html

Wow, if this is real and the drugs reasonably safe, this is HUGE! It's a good start no matter what!

Liz

[BicuriousIndy2]

That is good news.

I will believe it when I see it that the companies will just release the patent or produce for low cost, unless it was tied to a donation or government money.

Why is the risk less for circumcised?

Dave

[Darkside2009]

Two things strike me from the report, the most glaring is the disparity between the percentage figures given for homosexuals in SF and those for heterosexuals in Africa. Taking the same prescribed dose of the same drug should result in the same effect.

The second is that they took blood samples from the participants but didn't bother analysing them. I would have thought they would do this as a matter of course in order to confirm their findings. If the blood analysis confirmed the participants were taking the medication as prescribed then the disparity is due to some other cause/causes.

This may be an attempt to garner more government funding, or it may be an attempt to boost the pharmaceutical manufacturer's share price.

The research does sound a bit sloppy to me, and even the doctor from the CDC quoted in the article didn't think we were at the stage of taking a pill to prevent HIV.

Stick to safe sex until the position is clarified.

[DuckiesDarling]

Thing is....these PreP drugs are not going to be the miracle they apply. It's like birth control pills only are effective in certain percentages even when used correctly. Throw in the effect of antibiotics and you may as well not even be taking birth control. I'd be very wary of something that reduced my chances and still practice safe sex just like Darkside said. There is absolutely no reason to pin your hopes on a pill or on a partner who says he or she is taking the pill. Be safe not sorry. :2cents:

[tommyswing]

While I agree it is good news, I also would continue to practice safer sex.

[lizard-lix]

Well I wasn't suggesting heading to Times Square for random bareback.. But every step forward is, hopefully, a step in the right direction..

While this is in no way definitive, it is an indicator that the spread of AIDS can continue to be slowed and hopefully stopped.

Definitely practice safe sex, but look forward to less fear in the future..

For those of you who were not sexually active in the time before AIDS (and drug resistant STIs and HPV, etc...), I am sorry that you missed out on that practically risk free time. It was a lot of fun...

[tommyswing]

You got that right lizard, those where the days.

[drugstore cowboy]

Well I wasn't suggesting heading to Times Square for random bareback.. But every step forward is, hopefully, a step in the right direction..

While this is in no way definitive, it is an indicator that the spread of AIDS can continue to be slowed and hopefully stopped.

Definitely practice safe sex, but look forward to less fear in the future..

For those of you who were not sexually active in the time before AIDS (and drug resistant STIs and HPV, etc...), I am sorry that you missed out on that practically risk free time. It was a lot of fun...

These medications aren't a cure for HIV but I'm sure people will think that they are one and engage in unsafe sex and still get infected. It's like that today with HIV medications people think that they are a "cure" when they're not at all and still engage in very dangerous sex acts and get HIV when they could just use a condom correctly and have safer sex all the time with their partner(s) instead.

I was around before AIDS was discovered and no it was not a risk free time, or "practically risk free".

Nobody knew about safer sex and STDs including HIV were spread around a lot and many people got infected or infected others.

I'm lucky I don't have HIV or any STDs but I know lots of men and women who do or who did and are no longer alive.

Most of my bisexual and gay male friends who I met in the 70s are dead from HIV/AIDS.

HIV was around but they just didn't know what it was. Men started getting infected with HIV and dying of AIDS as early as the mid 70s but at the time they had no idea what it was. Or are you conveniently forgetting about the entire generation or two of bisexual and gay men who died of AIDS?

[lizard-lix]

Cowboy, my experiences before I got married went from about '67 - '78. I was a complete slut...

However all the folks I was with were school friends or neighborhood friends. We didn't venture out because we didn't need to.

Every one of them is alive today AFAIK... None has HIV or AIDS AFAIK...

I am still in touch with that group so I hear about who has what. The ones that have died, went from car accidents, heart attacks, brain tumors, ALS and similar things.

So, at least where I was (South Florida), and with the group of people I exchanged body fluids with, copiously, no one got anything worse than gonorrhea (usually from some pickup at a bar).. And at that time it was an easily treatable disease (I had an antibiotic allergy and was given sulfa when I got clapped).

So, no, I have not conveniently forgotten anything.

I am deeply sorry for the folks who were not so lucky, but I was, along with my friends, and we had a hell of a time.

My comment was a lament for those easier times past. I was NOT meaning to diss anyone's pain, suffering or memory..

If I'd grown up in NYC or SF and was more into the gay community, my story may have been a lot different. I lost a lot of gay friends in the 80's in NY when I was there.

[niftyshellshock]

Well I wasn't suggesting heading to Times Square for random bareback.. .

Well, damn, might as well cancel my trip to NY.

[BiDaveDtown]

I do happen to agree with this quote.

This is NOT a cure for HIV and it's just going to make more people become infected with HIV since they're going to assume they can avoid using condoms and having safer sex and they can just take a pill or two and have all the high risk unprotected sex they want.

"I find it disconcerting that so many HIV treatment activists today, many of whom are living with HIV themselves, are wildly supportive of a prevention modality that has no benefit to people living with HIV other than arguably allowing HIV-positive people to have unprotected sex with HIV-negative people with a reduced risk of transmitting HIV, a risk that would be reduced further if the positive person was on treatment themselves. And especially when all activists could be advocating as vociferously for universal access to care for all people living with HIV; a prevention modality that has the added benefit of saving tens of millions of lives while stopping the spread of AIDS dead in its tracks. [snip] Make no mistake: PrEP is a profit-driven sex toy for rich Westerners, disguised as a harm-reduction and prevention tool for disenfranchised people at risk for HIV. And it's coming to a drugstore near you soon." - Regan Hofmann, Poz Magazine editor-in-chief.