To combat contamination with the AIDS virus, several teams of researchers have carried out studies on antiretrovirals. The results are encouraging. The IPREX trial showed a 42% reduction in the risk of infection in the group using the daily drug Truvada (a fixed combination of 2 antiretrovirals, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil) compared to the group receiving their placebo. The IPERGAY trial tested 400 volunteers to take Truvada “on demand”, only at the time of exposure to the risks.
The results of the study revealed a significant difference in incidence (number of new cases) between the two groups with a very significant reduction in the risk ofHIV infection.
“The concept of biomedical prophylaxis (ie the process which aims to prevent the onset of a disease) at the time of exposure to the risk of HIV infection, within a framework of an extended prevention offer , is validated. However, the observed efficiency should not make us forget that the condom remains the cornerstone of prevention. It is by adding together all the prevention tools that have proven their worth that we will be able to effectively control the AIDS epidemic “explains Professor Jean-Michel Molina, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at Saint Hospital. -Louis and trial coordinator.
Stop contamination quickly
“These first results from IPERGAY leave no room for doubt: this new prevention strategy is effective beyond our expectations. We can no longer afford to wait for the final results of the trial (available in spring 2015) for make this new tool available to all people exposed to risk “, explains Bruno Spire, president of AIDES.
Consequently, the association for the fight against AIDS asks the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine to speed up the examination process of our request for RTU (Temporary recommendation for use). “Access to Truvada must be guaranteed for all those who urgently need it,” recalls Bruno Spire, in a press release.
If in France 13 million people are treated with antivirals, each year more than 6,000 new HIV infections are discovered. People are mainly infected through sexual intercourse. Men who have sex with men (MSM) is one of the most exposed groups. They represent 42% of new cases. The National Institute for Public Health Surveillance (INVS) estimates that 30,000 to 40,000 people with HIV are unaware of it.