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Anchor lead:  People who are on medicines to prevent HIV infection don’t engage in more risky behavior, Elizabeth Tracey reports

When people are given medicines to prevent HIV infection, known as PrEP, they don’t take more risks than they did beforehand, a recent long terms study presented at the international HIV conference in Melbourne, Australia, found.  Joseph Cofrancesco, Jr, an HIV expert at Johns Hopkins, says the approach is multipronged.

Cofrancesco: It’s a program.  It’s give a pill, it’s work with the patient to help them to understand ways to keep themselves safe, to encourage condom use, to use ways to transition away from using drugs or to a safer way of using drugs, come in regularly for STD testing and making sure there’s no problems.  What was shown in the most recent conference is that a longer term follow up the patients on PrEP did not report any additional risky behavior or more partners than they might otherwise have.   :28

Cofrancesco says all persons at risk for HIV infection should be offered PrEP.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.

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Anchor lead:  Providing HIV services to sex workers is critical to stopping spread of the disease, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Sex work must be decriminalized so that HIV services can be effectively provided to those who work in this area, many studies and position papers at the recent International HIV conference in Melbourne, Australia concluded.  Joesph Cofrancesco, Jr, an HIV expert at Johns Hopkins, concurs.

Cofrancesco: Whenever you criminalize an activity you tend to drive it underground and then individuals or patients tend not to feel comfortable or even able to report that activity to the healthcare system, and we lose healthcare.  That’s why all the issues about criminalization of men who have sex with men is such a big deal.  Certainly sex workers face lots of challenges in their lives, and this just adds to the likelihood that they’re not going to get the appropriate care they need.   :30

Cofrancesco says moral judgments must be laid aside and HIV transmission viewed as a medical and population health issue.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.

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Anchor lead: Can HIV really be eliminated after someone is infected? Elizabeth Tracey reports

HIV infection returned recently in an infant thought to be cured of the virus.  Joseph Cofrancesco, Jr, an HIV expert at Johns Hopkins, describes the situation.

Cofrancesco:  The hope was that that baby would have had the virus eliminated before the latent reservoir was able to develop. When we were able to stop medications on that baby investigators found that there was no virus for almost two years.  That was very heartening. However in the end the virus returned.  What that does is confirm what many investigators have felt which is that very early on in infection HIV infects many cells and a reservoir is established of cells that go into a latent phase.  :31

Cofrancesco says newer strategies to eliminate HIV rely on waking up dormant virus in cell reservoirs so drugs can attack it, and notes that effective strategies to prevent maternal infant transmission are in place.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.