Tenofovir gives injecting drug users HIV protection

摘要

INJECTING drug users may be partly protected from contracting HIV if they take daily tenofovir as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PREP), suggests a studv published online in The Lancet (13 June 2013). Tenofovir has already been shown to be effective as prophylaxis for sexually transmitted HIV. In this study, HIV-negative injecting drug users in Bangkok, Thailand (n=2,413), were given once-daily tenofovir or placebo for an average of four years. Study participants were tested for HIV every month, received individualised risk-reduction and adherence counselling and were offered condoms and methadone treatment. In the placebo group, 33 people became infected, compared with 17 people in the tenofovir group (P=0.01), representing a 48.9 per cent lower incidence of HIV.