Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
United Press International - September 19, 2007
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers discovered giving a daily antiretroviral drug could potentially prevent more than 3 million HIV infections during a 10-year period.
The findings are based on a mathematical model developed by the researchers to predict the public health impact of pre-exposure chemoprophylaxis, or PrEP -- an HIV prevention strategy that uses antiretroviral drugs, currently given in combination to treat HIV-positive individuals, to prevent the initial occurrence of the infection.
Sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS global epidemic, contains nearly 63 percent of the worldÆs HIV-infected population, totaling about 22.4 million adults.
PrEP is based on the hypothesis that HIV transmission can be curtailed if treatment is given before exposure to the infection occurs. Data from animal studies suggest PrEP is an effective method to prevent HIV infection and it is now under study in human populations.
The research is reported in the online journal PLoS One.
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