As nations around the world commemorate 30 years of HIV/AIDS, the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) offers some positive, groundbreaking news: Heterosexuals who are HIV negative can significantly reduce their risk of infection by taking a daily dose of an antiviral drug called Truvada - a tablet containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, and emitricitabine ( TDF/FTC ) .
The monumental findings were drawn from a study in which 1,200 uninfected heterosexual men and women between the ages of 18 and 39 years in Botswana, Africa were followed on average between one and three years. Study participants took a tablet containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emitricitabine ( TDF/FTC ) , whose brand name is Truvada, or a placebo. Results showed that the risk of infection was reduced 63% overall and 78%.for participants actually receiving the drugs.
Giving daily antiretroviral drugs to uninfected individuals to prevent the disease is called pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. Previous studies have shown PrEP to be effective in reducing infection rates among the uninfected.
"Just a few years ago the tool kit for HIV prevention was not very large," says Dr. Jared Baeten, the principal investigator of the Partners PrEP study at the University of Washington. "Now we have a nice collection of really powerful strategies that work for the population at greatest risk in the world. This is really a game changer."
Baeten added, "Now what we need is to get these strategies out to people so they'll have a large effect at populations with greatest need."
Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's national Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, called the news a milestone. "It is clear we are not going to find one magic pill to solve the issue of HIV but by combining this approach with others we are beginning to get a better handle on combination packages. There is reason to be excited."
"It's a breakthrough in prevention because it's an additional mechanism we have to try to tackle an HIV epidemic that's still growing in the world and in the United States," says Jonathan Mermin, MD, director of the division of HIV/AIDS prevention at the CDC.
The news comes at the same time a second study looking at PrEP in heterosexual couples in Kenya and Uganda also found significant reductions in infection rates. The Partners PrEP study participants took either TDF/FTC, the drug tenofovirbrand name Viread, or a placebo. Preliminary results showed both treatments significantly reduced transmission in couples where one partner was already infected with the virus. Patients who took tenofovir had 62% fewer infections while those taking the combination drug had 73% fewer infections than those who got the placebo.