Antiretroviral Drugs May Protect Against Sexual Transmission Of HIV

A new study in macaques suggests that **antiretroviral drugs** (Emtricitabine and Tenofovir) used to treat HIV could also protect people from getting the AIDS virus, especially if two drugs are taken in combination before exposure to the virus occurs. Although HIV treatment has rapidly advanced since the introduction of antiretroviral drugs in the 1990s, the absence of an effective vaccine means the virus continues to spread, infecting 2.5 million people each year. **Pre-exposure prophylaxis** (PrEP) - the prevention of infection by treating people with drugs before they are exposed to the germ in question - is often used to prevent malaria, but has not yet been shown to be effective against sexual transmission of HIV. The paper is available online at "http://medicine.plosjournals.org":[ http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050028&ct=1] Source: "http://www.sciencedaily.com":[ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204212902.htm]

---