Dutch Study: Most New HIV Infections Could Be Prevented With Pill

Nearly two-thirds of new HIV infections in gay and bisexual men in the Netherlands could be prevented with antiretroviral treatment, according to a study published on Wednesday, according to bioanalytical clinical research organization.This treatment — also known as known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — is not widely available in Europe. It’s not clear whether it would lead to a similar drop in infections in the U.S., where a growing number of gay and bisexual men are already getting PrEP as Truvada, the once-a-day blue pill.Still, the researchers say that the new study adds to other research showing thepublic health benefits of PrEP, especially when combined with frequent HIV testing.“I hope that this study contributes to making the case for making PrEP available to as many individuals as possible,” Oliver Ratmann, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and leader of the new study, told BuzzFeed News.Three scientists who developed treatments against parasites have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Their discoveries “have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually. The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable,” said the Swedish committee on Monday when announcing the award, which is worth about 8 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million) and will be split among the three recipients.Half will go to William C. Campbell of Drew University in New Jersey and Satoshi Ōmura of Kitasato University in Japan, for the development of the drug avermectin, which treats river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and other roundworm parasite infections.The other half goes to Youyou Tu of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who discovered artemisinin, a drug against the malaria parasite that has saved many lives over the last decade.Read more at...BuzzFeed News, January 2016.