CDC Recommends PrEP for Americans at High Risk for HIV

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released new recommendations around pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – where HIV negative people are given drugs that stop the virus from reproducing in their bodies to prevent them from becoming infected if they are exposed to the virus.

A Vital Signs report published Tuesday, shows that almost 20 percent of adults who inject drugs, and less than 1 percent of heterosexually active adults are at a substantial risk for HIV infection and should be counseled about PrEP, a daily pill for HIV prevention.

“Many people who can benefit from PrEP aren’t taking it”, the authors of the report write. Additionally, 13 percent of the 1.2 million people living with HIV are now unaware of their status, which also significantly increases transmission risk.

Medication can prevent infection with the virus in people at high risk. Daily PrEP can also reduce the risk of HIV infection among people who inject drugs by more than 70 percent.

While the CDC aims to raise PrEP awareness among those at risk, its push to raise awareness is also geared towards healthcare professionals, as according to the CDC, one in three primary care doctors and nurses have not yet heard about PrEP.

Now only 21,000 people in the USA receive PrEP daily but if the CDC gets its way that number would rise into the millions. Heterosexual adults who have multiple partners and have unprotected sex with people who inject drugs are considered high-risk, for instance.

‘When taken every day, PrEP is safe and highly effective in preventing HIV infection.

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, stressed to reporters that Truvada as PrEP is intended for adults who do not have HIV, but particularly those who meet several risk factors.

“However, PrEP only works if patients know about it, have access to it, and take it as prescribed”, he said. Studies also indicate that other methods, such as the use of clean needles by drug users or condoms for sex, are not always used consistently.

However, Eugene McCray, director of the HIV prevention division at the CDC, said that PrEP is sometimes not right for everyone. These steps include publishing resources to educate and advise health care providers, a hotline to answer their questions, and increased funding to community organizations to improve access to the drug.