June 18, 2014 – Stop HIV

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ANCHOR LEAD: CAN WE STOP HIV TRANSMISSION RIGHT NOW?  ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, combination medications, routine testing- all of these strategies and more are designed to stop HIV transmission, and have resulted in some experts asserting that right now, today, we can stop the virus in its tracks.  Joseph Cofrancesco Jr, an HIV expert at Johns Hopkins, agrees.

COFRANCESCO: I believe that we have the tools right now in the armamentarium to prevent further spread of HIV and hopefully end this epidemic. But it’s a multipronged attack. One is to make sure those who have HIV know they have HIV because then they can be treated.  People who are properly treated and suppress their virus have very little likelihood of transmitting that virus to someone else.  Those who are at higher risk can use pre-exposure prophylaxis.  We already have been highly successful in treating women who are pregnant and preventing transmission to their children.   :35

Cofrancesco notes that the common denominator is testing, and urges everyone to follow CDC recommendations to be screened for HIV.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.