For the first time, a man taking PrEP according to approved guidelines has been diagnosed with a drug resistant form of HIV. Further analysis found that the man had acute HIV infection, but his use of PrEP may have blunted the virus’ powers to replicate itself.
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It’s recommended that patients be tested for hepatitis B before starting this treatment.
“The drug is intended for use by high risk individuals – such as those whose sexual partner is HIV positive – in combination with safer sex practises, including condom use”, a spokesperson for Health Canada told VICE News in an email.
Numerous people in these groups are also people of color who have less access to health care than their white counterparts, says Emily Brown of Georgia Equality.
Patients who meet the drug’s criteria should take one tablet a day with meal.
Demand for PreP is high at anti-HIV clinics across Canada, said Dr. Issac Bogosh, an infectious disease clinician and researcher at Toronto’s University Health Network.
With that, Knox said the failure of the PrEP in this case was possibly due to a rare transmission of an HIV 1 strain that is resistant to both tenofovir and emtricitabine.
The new drug is a follow-up to Gilead’s Complera – which contains emtricitabine, Janssen’s rilpivirine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) – but replaces the latter with a new salt of tenofovir called tenofovir alafenamide (TAF). The 43-year old man was on Truvada for the past 24 months has tested positive for HIV and is the first reported case. There’s even a stigma surrounding PrEP over concerns that it could lead to reduced condom use.
“We should do everything in our power to enable the prevention of HIV, and that’s just the humane thing to do”. AID Atlanta has already been offering PrEP. But the center’s ability to take on large numbers of people who are at risk for HIV is limited.
“The critical factor is having a doctor who can provide good support to use PrEP. PrEP cannot be imported without a prescription and any doctor is going to have to feel confident that they can provide adequate support before they prescribe, because Truvada has not been through the Medsafe process for PrEP use”.
“The number of new HIV infections in Canada has remained steady over the past several years and it is exciting to consider the potential impact of a new tool to help lower the rate of HIV infections in the future”, Tremplay explained.
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According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, most private insurance plans will cover PrEP, since they generally cover drugs that have Health Canada’s approval.
