CDC issues guidance on using Truvada as an HIV preventative - latimes.com

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CDC issues guidance on using Truvada as an HIV preventative

By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

11:48 AM PST, January 29, 2011

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in a tough spot. They've said repeatedly that HIV-fighting drug Truvada may be used to treat HIV in gay and bisexual men, but it should not be used to prevent the disease.

But this week, acknowledging the interest in using Truvada as a preventative, the CDC released guidance saying that if used as a preventive measure, the drug should be prescribed only to those men at high risk of contracting the disease -- those who have unprotected sex with other men and have multiple partners, for example.

The announcement comes two months after a study showed that taking the drug regularly could block 72.8% of new infections from the AIDS virus. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved Truvada for such preventive uses.

Meanwhile, as the San Francisco Chronicle points out, Truvada doesn't come cheap -- and at $12,000 per year to treat HIV infection, it could increase the gap in risk between those men who can afford it and those who can't.

Here's some information on HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men.

Thoughts on the drug's use? Post them below.

Follow me on Twitter @LAT_aminakhan.

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