Posted on 04/11/2019 4:36:14 PM PDT by spintreebob
Pre-exposure prophylaxis use to protect against HIV infection was associated with higher infection rates of other sexually transmitted diseases, according to a new study.
An analysis in Australia found more than 2,900 sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in nearly half of the study's participants from when they started using PrEP. Nearly 3,000 gay and bisexual men were given access to the medication. The study found infections per participant ranged from zero to 12.
The study, published Tuesday in JAMA, found 25% of study participants had multiple infections that accounted for 76% of all infections diagnosed. The incidence of infections increased among participants who already had been tested for STIs.
Researchers found that patients at greater risk of sexually transmitted infections tended to be younger, had used PrEP prior to the trial, and reported having a higher number of anal sex partners and greater participation in group sex compared with those who did not get infected.
The study did not find a significant increase in risk based on the frequency with which patients used condoms, indicating that there was not a clear association between consistent condom use and decreased risk of infection.
Condom use has historically been strongly associated with decreasing the risk of STIs. But the study found no significant difference between those who reported using condoms more than half of the time they had sex, compared with those who used them less than half of the time, all of the time, or never using them at all during sex with casual partners. Researchers deduced that could stem from study participants' low consistent condom use.
"Findings suggested that STI prevention campaigns should not focus solely on condom use but also on reducing the time to STI diagnosis and treatment by promoting easy access to frequent testing," the study concluded.
In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Monica Gandhi and Matthew Spinelli, both from the University of California at San Francisco's medicine department, and Dr. Kenneth Mayer of the Fenway Institute in Boston, cautioned that the study's results should be viewed in context with, and not outside of, current trends among gay and bisexual men—increases in sexually transmitted infections that have been occurring within that group even prior to the availability of PrEP in 2012.
The writers also stressed the importance of condom use. They said evidence has shown concerns among clinicians about whether patients who take PrEP would begin to engage in riskier behavior has led some not to offer the medication. A 2018 report in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections among PrEP users who were engaging in unprotected sex.
Many experts see increasing the use of PrEP among high-risk individuals as one of the key factors toward achieving the Trump administration's pledged goal of reducing new HIV infections by 90% by 2030.
PrEP was first approved in 2012 to prevent HIV transmission and has an efficacy rate of about 97% when taken consistently. But use has been relatively low among the population that it could benefit most. Of the estimated 1.1 million Americans identified in 2015 as possibly benefiting from taking PrEP, only 90,000 prescriptions were filled that year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Encouraging greater use of PrEP was what prompted the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force last year to recommend clinicians offer PrEP to patients at high risk for contracting HIV.
"To continue to achieve the population-level influence on HIV incidence through PrEP that appears imminently achievable, PrEP will need to be available for and used by the populations that can benefit the most, including those having condomless sex," the commentary stated.
This drives home the point. Healthcare is not about who pays and how much. Healthcare is about good diet, good lifestyle. No smoking, no drinking, no drugs, no promiscuous sex. That is Healthcare.
Agree. This is just another example of how pathetic ‘research’ has become.
I would think the poor results reflect the fact that the stuff is mainly used by a high risk population. Plus, taking the stuff may tempt someone whose behavior is already risky to take even more risks.
The experts tell us...
I believe in science...
They used condoms more than half the time? Why would anyone think that would be of any benefit at all? Researchers included!?
“Oh - hey! Your butt looks clean. I guess I don’t need a condom this time!”
So, you are saying if I received free candy I might get cavities or diabetes? What the hell!
//sarcasm
I think some of them want to be infected - sort of a sick munchausen’s variant.
Oh, the homophobic, hateful and deplorable comments here just sicken me. How dare anyone suggest that these poor unfortunate victims take responsibility for their own behavior. Jokes about what consenting adults do about their anuses in the comfort of their own bedrooms....oh, wait....what they do causes a public health disaster..costs the medical systems billions
Now I remember when this former leftist started moving to the right and why he never stopped moving
It’s true...called “bug chasing”. Some (mostly younger) homosexuals have actually enshrined HIV/AIDS as part of the homosexual identity.
Shame on me... I just don’t care.
Quite an accomplishment ... I'm not positive I could even name 12 different sexually transmitted infections.
Like smokers, homosexuals should have higher insurance premiums commensurate to their likeley health care costs ...
This is nor surprising. I think they like to play Russian roulette.
Kind of how the Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood’s research arm) counts it as condom failure if a woman uses a condom at least once during the month she became pregnant.
This entire concept makes me wanna vomit.
One problem with PrEP that the ads don’t tell you is there are plenty of side effects (mostly gastrointestinal) so folks will take a “holiday” or think they can take it “as needed” but it doesn’t work like that and, in fact, that behavior will eventually spur HIV to become resistant to the two anti-retrovirals in Truvadad.
I guess you haven’t seen the commercials for some kind of medicine like this on TV? Has every gay stereotype in it; trying to normalize crazy.
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