A drug designed to prevent people who are at risk of HIV from being infected is showing promise: a new real-world study found that those who took the drug stayed HIV-free. The finding adds to growing evidence the drug, PrEP, serves as an effective method of curbing the spread of the HIV virus.
For the study, the first to look at PrEP outside of a clinical setting, researchers evaluated more than 650 people who began the drug during a 32-month period. Nearly all of the participants were men who have sex with men. Users were more likely than non-users to report that they had multiple sex partners. During the study, participants developed a number of different sexually transmitted diseases but remained free of HIV.
The Food and Drug Administration approved PrEP for use in 2012 and it has since been recommended to groups that engage in sexual practices that place them at increased risk of HIV. The drug can reduce risk of HIV infection by 92% if taken properly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
HIV infection rates in the U.S. have persisted in recent years despite campaigns to raise awareness and encourage condom use.
The Photo That Changed the Face of AIDS
David Kirby on his deathbed, Ohio, 1990.Therese FrareIn another of Therese Frare's photos taken in the final moments of David Kirby's life, his caregiver and friend, Peta; David's father; and David's sister, Susan, say goodbye.Therese FrareBill Kirby tries to comfort his dying son, David, 1990.Therese FrareA nurse at Pater Noster House in Ohio holds David Kirby's hands not long before he died, spring 1990.Therese FrareDavid Kirby, Ohio, 1990.Therese FrareDavid Kirby's mother, Kay, holds a photograph of her son -- taken by Ohio photographer Art Smith -- before AIDS took its toll.Therese FrarePeta, a volunteer at Pater Noster House in Ohio, cares for a dying David Kirby, 1990.Therese FrarePeta lies on a couch in a home rented by Pater Noster House, 1991. After the infamous ad ran, Benetton donated money to Pater Noster, some of which was used to furnish the house where Peta and other patients stayed.Therese FrarePeta on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, July 1991. "Peta could be a handful at times," Therese Frare told LIFE.com, "but there was a great deal of joy in our relationship. He wasn't like anyone I'd ever met."Therese FrarePeta swims in a lake on the Pine Ridge (Lakota) Indian Reservation in South Dakota, during a trip home with photographer Therese Frare in July 1991.Therese FrarePeta at the Pine Ridge (Lakota) Indian Reservation in South Dakota, during a trip home with Therese Frare in July 1991.Therese FrarePeta in Ohio, 1991.Therese FrarePeta in bed at Pater Noster House, 1992.Therese FrareScene at Pater Noster House, Ohio, 1991.Therese FrarePeta at Pater Noster House, 1992.Therese FrarePeta with Bill and Kay Kirby at Pater Noster House, 1992. "I made up my mind," Kay Kirby said, "when David was dying and Peta was helping to care for him, that when Peta's time came -- and we all knew it would come -- that we would care for him. There was never any question. We were going to take care of Peta. That was that."Therese FrareKay Kirby administers medicine to Peta via an IV, 1992.Therese FrarePeta and Bill Kirby share a quiet moment together in Peta's room, Ohio, 1992.Therese FrarePeta in hospice, Columbus, Ohio, 1992.Therese FrareBill and Kay Kirby, 1992.Therese Frare
