Study: HIV Drug Also Prevents Infection

In an exciting breakthrough, a new study indicates that Truvada, an antiretroviral combination already used to treat HIV, can help prevent uninfected gay men from catching the virus.

The Associated Press reports on the results of the Post Exposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEX) to be published this week by The New England Journal of Medicine.

"Daily doses of Truvada cut the risk of infection by 44 percent when given with condoms, counseling and other prevention services," reported the AP. "Men who took their pills most faithfully had even more protection, up to 73 percent."

While AIDS experts hailed the findings, they warned they might not apply to people exposed to HIV through male-female sex, drug use and other ways. Studies are underway in those groups.

In the immediate term, reports The Washington Post, "The study provides further proof that the drugs that have transformed AIDS treatment over the past 15 years might be powerful tools in preventing infection, as well. Earlier evidence of that appeared last summer, when a study testing a vaginal gel containing an AIDS drug lowered African women's risk of acquiring HIV by 40 percent."

Read more from the Associated Press here.