For the first time Scientist have now seen its first case of
an individual contracting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) while being
compliant with taking Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) daily. The HIV strain that they were exposed to is
supposedly a multi-drug resistant strain.
In other words, the strain of HIV that the person who was taking PrEP,
is resistant to many levels of HIV medications.
So this doesn’t surprise me because the strain is HIV drug resistant because
PrEP is 92% effective in preventing HIV transmission, so it isn’t 100% but
neither is using a condom.
Unfortunately,
the only thing that is 100% effective is abstinence and that is farfetched to
try to even preach that message. PrEP has
been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since July 16, 2012. I would say 4 years of no HIV infections for
those that are compliant with taking PrEP is a huge step for public health in eradicating
the threat of HIV transmission.
A 43-year-old man who has sex with men (MSM) who had been
taking PrEP 24 months before his HIV test provided a positive result. The researchers gave him a blood spot test in
order to determine whether or not he had stayed compliant to PrEP, which it was
inferred that the patient was compliant.
Test also concluded that his HIV medication resistant strain that he was
infected by was indeed from only 1 person and not because of mutation of
another strain of HIV after transmission.
The patient is now being put on Tivicay (dolutegravir), Prezcobix
(darunavir/cobicistat), and Edurant (rilpivirine), and continues to have an
undetectable viral load.
Prep (Truvada) is made up of two medications tenofovir and emtricitabine. In the world right now if someone is infected
with HIV they usually either have resistance to tenofovir or emtricitabine. But they usually almost never have resistance
to both tenofovir and emtricitabine at the same time.
The data was made public knowledge at the 2016 Conference on
Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston by HIV Specialist
Dr. David Knox
