Landmark study: HIV treatment drug can prevent infections

A PILL used to treat people with HIV can also prevent infection by the Aids virus, a study has found.

Scientists found daily doses of the combination drug Truvada cut the risk of gay and bisexual men catching HIV by up to 90.

Experts said the findings marked a turning point in the worldwide war against HIV and Aids.

However, they pointed out that the study focused on just one high-risk group, “men who have sex with men”. More research was needed to see if the approach worked for other populations such as injecting drug users and vulnerable women.

The iPrEx (pre-exposure initiative) study was the first to assess the effectiveness of using an anti-retroviral drug to guard against HIV infection.

A total of 2,499 participants from the US, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, and Thailand were randomly assigned to take Truvada on a daily basis or an inactive “dummy” placebo pill.

The men were also provided with condoms and counselling.

After an average 14 months, there were 36 new HIV infections among the treated group and 64 among men given the placebo.

The researchers, led by Dr Robert Grant, from the University of California at San Francisco, calculated that taking Truvada reduced the overall risk of HIV infection by around 44%.

But many of the men failed to take the pill every day. Among those who took the drug more than 90% of the time, there were nearly 73% fewer infections. Study participants who were compliant with the treatment, according to blood tests, had a 90% lower risk of HIV infection than those who were not.

The findings were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.