PrEP Discussed in Victoria Australia

PrEP has been recently discussed in The Age newspaper after a recent PrEP user seroconverted to HIV positivein Melbourne Australia. Seroconverstion is when  a person becomes infected with HIV, going from HIV seronegative to HIV seropositive.

Hundreds of thousands of people use PrEP worldwide, but there have only been two confirmed cases of infection with a drug-resistant strain of the virus by someone taking the medication properly. A third case was reported in Amsterdam this year, and is still under investigation.

The finding sent shockwaves through the gay community, where experts say between 10 and 15 per cent of men in Melbourne and Sydney are using PrEP.

Victoria AIDS Council chief executive Simon Ruth tried to quell those fears, by stressing PrEP’s importance in the fight against HIV.

“The vast majority of people taking PrEP in this country and around the world continue to be protected by this powerful HIV prevention tool,” Mr Ruth said.

“It is important that gay men and all people at risk of HIV infection consider and decide on the best way to protect themselves from the range of safe sex options available to them.”

While PrEP – a daily pill called Truvada that contains two HIV medications – is not 100 per cent effective, studies show it can reduce the risk of HIV transmission by up to 99 per cent.

In people taking Truvada or it’s generic equivalent on a daily basis, HIV infection is rare.