The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 14 issued guidelines suggesting that healthcare providers prescribe pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, for persons who are at high risk for HIV.
According to a statement, the new guidelines offer providers information on identifying who might be eligible for PrEP, providing monitoring and support as patients take the medication, and counseling patients on drug adherence and risk reduction strategies.
"HIV infection is preventable, yet every year we see some 50,000 new HIV infections in the United States," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., in the statement. "PrEP, used along with other prevention strategies, has the potential to help at-risk individuals protect themselves and reduce new HIV infections in the United States."
Studies have shown PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection by more than 90%.
The CDC recommends PrEP for the following individuals:
Anyone who is in an ongoing sexual relationship with an HIV-infected partner.
A gay or bisexual man who has had sex without a condom or has been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection within the past six months, and is not in a mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative.
A heterosexual man or woman who does not always use condoms when having sex with partners known to be at risk for HIV ( for example, injecting drug users or bisexual male partners of unknown HIV status ), and is not in a mutually-monogamous relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative.
Anyone who has, within the past six months, injected illicit drugs and shared equipment or been in a treatment program for injection drug use.
"While a vaccine or cure may one day end the HIV epidemic, PrEP is a powerful tool that has the potential to alter the course of the U.S. HIV epidemic today," said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. "These guidelines represent an important step toward fully realizing the promise of PrEP. We should add to this momentum, working to ensure that PrEP is used by the right people, in the right way, in the right circumstances."
The drug Truvada, manufactured by Foster City, California-based Gilead Sciences, was approved by the FDA for use as PrEP in 2012.
More information can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/research/prep/index.html?s_cid=govd-nchhstp-hivprepg-007