Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Drugs to Reduce HIV Risk was Found

Antiretroviral drugs or drugs commonly used to reduce the amount of virus in HIV patients are now developed to prevent HIV transmission, particularly among gay and bisexual men.
Truvada, a drug, a combination of two types of antiretrovirals. The drug is manufactured by a California pharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences. In a trial known that this drug can reduce the risk of HIV transmission by 44 percent.
The study involved about 2,500 men gay or bisexual from Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, and the United States. They were randomly assigned to the pill Truvada and the rest received placebo pills. All study participants were also given condoms and counseling about safe sex.
After four years of study, the researchers found that ...
the drug was effective enough to reduce the transmission rate in the group who received the pill Truvada by 44 percent. Those who take the pill regularly estimated the risk of infection can be reduced up to 73 percent.
However, the question arises about the results of research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Most experts rate, decreased rate of infection could be caused by the use of condoms in the group that received the pills. The experts also said the price is quite expensive pill, which is 36 U.S. dollars (approximately USD 300,000) a day, will make this pill can not be consumed by many people.
Answering questions, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the studies are random and this drug is as a complement in HIV prevention. "Condoms and faithful sexual partners is the primary means of prevention," he said.
He also explained that the purpose of this research is to add defense system in the prevention of HIV infection and not replace what's available now. "It is important to increase prevention efforts, especially in the groups most at risk," he said.

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