Take 1 tablet / day, less afraid of HIV infection ...

According to PrEP method of BS. Marcus Conant (USA), John took one tablet a day, basically reducing the risk of HIV infection without condoms when having sex. Although this method does not replace the HIV vaccine, it is the simplest way to reduce the risk of HIV transmission for homosexuals by two thirds.

HIV virus.Photo: Medinet.hochiminhcity.gov.vn

In 2007, after 25 years of trying, the search for a vaccine against HIV / AIDS failed. Some other methods are investigated, but the pre-exposure prophylaxis - PrEP (pre-exposed prophylaxis) is effective against HIV from spreading. Of course, the propagation and use of safe sex measures are extremely important, but PrEP will contribute significantly to preventing .

As a gay man living in the United States, John witnessed campaigns to promote HIV / AIDS here. Although he knows and is well informed, sometimes he still has unsafe sex because he does not always have condoms with him.

But gay people are like that. But his actions were intentional, at the discretion of the doctor. He prescribed John prescriptions to lower the risk of "sticking" HIV to the experiments he was among those who had agreed to cooperate with him in research.

This strategy is called prevention before contact (pre-exposed prophylaxis, PrEP for short) between him and BS. Marcus Conant, a longtime activist for the gay rights movement. Has not been tested clinically, but he has found his method to be promising. By taking a pill every day, John basically reduces the risk of HIV infection without the need for a condom when having sex. It seems that this is the simplest method of reducing 2/3 of the risk of HIV infection for homosexuals.

Currently, the PrEP method of BS. Conant is successful on a limited number of people but surely the situation will change very quickly. Only the following year, it will be tested on a large scale and will give first results. If successful, PrEP could save millions of people from the century pandemic that is spreading around the world, with 7,000 more infected each day.

33.2 million people are living with HIV

PrEP originates from a strategy called 'post-exposed prophylaxis' (abbreviated PrEP), for the purpose of being used after exposure to HIV. PrEP method has been used since the 1980s, mainly to treat newborns whose mothers are infected with HIV during pregnancy.

PrEP method selects Tenofovir alone or a combination of Tenofovir and Emtricitabine members daily (this two-component drug name is called Truvada).

Not because of the encouraging initial results that PrEP method is not criticized. The main concern is that it will be fooled by people themselves to be absolutely safe to 'relax' themselves in sexual activity, making the spread of HIV virus faster and further. And it is simplicity that can make people mistaken, choose drugs recklessly or inject their own illegal drugs.

Currently, the search for anti-HIV vaccines is not promising, if not temporarily stopped to find the way, many leading experts consider PrEP a potential weapon against HIV. 'There are some whispers about PrEP,' said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 'but cautious and more optimistic optimizations remain.'

The reason for the hope of PrEP is that for the last 25 years, since the discovery of the HIV virus, some vaccines have been proposed, but only two types do not "break the road" and both failed. Most recently, the third category proved to be the most promising, but last year was completely helpless before HIV.

In 2007, 270,000 children died of AIDS

Since then, scientists have acknowledged that we do not fully understand the virus and need to do more basic research before starting human trials.

Since the vaccine seems to go into a dead end, people start to care about other strategies. First of all, people go back to the antiviral drugs commonly used in the genitals and rectum, in the form of gels before sex. However, this field is also not successful. First of all, an antiviral chemical called nonoxynol-9 is found to stimulate vaginal coating, causing the opposite effect, increasing the risk of infection. Two other promising substances in the past two years have also been removed for reasons that are not clear.

Some virus killers are in clinical trials, but there is no conclusion in the next few years. "Having to wait so long also means failure," commented Alan Stone, former head of the international anti-virus project.

The convenience of the PrEP method is that it immediately uses highly effective and well-known HIV medications, long before the above-mentioned vaccines and antiviral drugs were tested. They inhibit viral replication, slowing the process of AIDS. It is hoped that, if used to prevent disease, they also prevent effective replication as the immune system and prevent further infection.

Add 6,800 people with HIV every day

Animal tests showed that both Tenofovir and Truvada blocked the transmission of HIV and Truvada with slightly higher efficacy. The level of protection depends on the drug and dosage used, according to Lynn Paxton, head of the research team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Human trials were conducted with 936 women in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon but not enough time to make a definite conclusion. Initial results showed that the control group had 6 people infected with HIV, while the medication group only had 2. It was very good that the side effect was not serious, just being mild, vomiting and tired. No kidney damage.

15 million children are orphaned by their parents in the world

Drug testing is being carried out on a large scale, with a total of 19,000 people including gay men, heavy drug addicts, and married HIV-infected women, too, around the world. Next year, one can conclude on the effectiveness of HIV prevention and control when taking Tenofovir and 2010 has concluded with Truvada.

Animal testing shows that it is not necessary to take medicine daily, but twice a week or days before or after having sex. 'To reduce the cost and reduce the toxic effects of drugs', Mike Youle, Research Director of the Royal London Hospital, who first lobbied for permission to widely test the PrEP method, said: ' It's not everyone. sex every day '. Dr. Conant's patients are recommended, if someone has sex on weekends, it should be used on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

However, PrEP should not be understood as an alternative to vaccines. Paxton said: 'Do not think that its effectiveness must be absolute'. Based on PrEP, it is estimated that the effect of PrEP is only 60 to 70%. People also fear that due to subjectivity, depending on the effectiveness of the method, people do not preserve anymore but let go of sex. Paxton added: 'We always remind people, PrEP does not replace condoms but only supports condoms.'

HIV is a very evil virus, which is easily evolved to immunize itself with antiviral drugs. Therefore, in the AIDS drug treatment, it always combines 3 components to make the probability of HIV against all three at the same time very small.

The next concern is that HIV-positive people do not know that PrEP contains only 1 or 2 drugs, so the virus they carry is still "net" and they are a potential source of infection to people who have applied PrEP. In this case, the drug is not effective for both them as well as their "partner", even though both sides have taken the medication.

Tenofovir and Truvada are not easy to ignore drugs like other anti-virus agents, but it does not mean that the phenomenon of drug-induced eruption does not happen at all. The workaround is that people who have used the PrEP method still need to regularly test for HIV.

For poor countries, the application of PrEP is still a big problem. Drug prices for them are still high, for example Truvada is only sold for $ 1 / day and the price is still difficult to reach the user.

It is clear that PrEP is not a potion, but it can be a very important and effective way of doing so until people have invented the HIV / AIDS vaccine. Stone said: 'The more options we have, the better. We cannot wait and do nothing. We must always try our best in every way to combat pandemic which is a great risk of humanity '.