Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
10/07/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Brasilia - The use of medication to help prevent HIV infection, known as pre-exposure therapy, begin to be tested in the country since August. The research is coordinated by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), with the participation of the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo and the Center for Reference and Training STD and AIDS, the Health Department of the state. The researchers will follow, for a year, 400 volunteer men who have sex with men and transvestites.
The drug to be tested will Truvada. Use it as a prevention strategy has been demonstrated by international study Initiative Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (iPrEx), which was part of the Brazil. In the United States, the preventive use of the tablet is approved. In Brazil, it is allowed only for treatment of the disease - is not adopted as a preventive.
"The goal is to deliver medicine to the populations most vulnerable to acquiring HIV," explains infectious Brenda Hoagland, project coordinator at Fiocruz. She says it is necessary to make a study demonstrating that the use of the pill as prevention is permitted in the country.
According to the research iPrEx, daily use of Truvada for healthy men who have sex with men, reduced from 43% to 92% virus infection, depending on the membership of the person to treatment. The study evaluated 2,499 men without HIV.
However, infectious stresses that the remedy does not replace the use of condoms and has no action on other sexually transmitted diseases. "The remedy is an additional protection for those at high risk of acquiring HIV who, for some reason, [Protection] failed with condom use. We do not encourage the use of condoms does not and neither are replacing the use of condoms by tablet, "he explains.
The research will begin with the recruitment of volunteers. In total, 400 volunteers, 200 in Rio de Janeiro and 200 in São Paulo. The profile is sought man with over 18 years without HIV and makes sex with men or transvestites.
According to the infectious disease specialist and clinical research of the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Alexandre Barbosa Naime, studies on the prevention and cure of HIV have achieved promising results in the world. Currently, there is research to therapeutic and preventive vaccines.
A therapeutic vaccine stimulates the body of an HIV-infected individual to mount an immune response against the virus. Research done by the University of Barcelona to demonstrate the temporary control of the virus with the vaccine.
"The vaccine could cause individuals to stay, at least a year, without having to take medication. Which, sometimes, can be useful in a scenario where the individual is having many side effects, for example. This can be for the future, a strategy to be adopted. "
One type of preventive vaccine was tested in Thailand. "She [the vaccine] got about 40% protection in one year, in a population of high risk - especially men who have sex with men, and sex workers. This for a year. She showed an efficacy that has not so wide [40%] in relation to HIV prevention. This is the result better known "detailed Barbosa.
In another study on the treatment of HIV, were published in June cases of two patients with the virus. They were submitted to bone marrow transplantation and reached "functional cure", in which virus levels in the blood fall and are unable to trigger symptoms.
"They received a bone marrow transplant, medication during continued using the post-transplant could then eradicate the virus from the bloodstream. Are cases with follow-up between two and four years and so far the virus has not come back in circulation, "he said.
The infectious warns, however, that they are isolated cases. "It is important to say, make it very clear that this is not a routine treatment, much less a treatment that people can apply. Those are extreme cases are situations in which the individual had a blood cancer, lymphoma, and chemotherapy did not work. Then, the last resort is bone marrow transplantation "
Source: Agency Brazil
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.