Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV: clinical practice and challenge

Abstract

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can not only turn HIV infection from a fatal disease into a treatable chronic disease, but also reduce HIV transmission among high-risk people. In recent years the concept "treatment as prevention" has been accepted by the public. More and more studies have shown that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV can effectively reduce the spreading of HIV in high-risk populations. Clinical trials have also shown that PrEP is safe, and can effectively prevent high-risk people from HIV infection. The guidelines of Europe, the United States and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that PrEP should be considered for high-risk populations including men who have sex with men (MSM), heterosexually active men and women, HIV-uninfected partner in serodiscordant couples and injection drug users(IDUs). PrEP with daily oral tenofovir/emtricitabine combination is the recommended PrEP regimen, and TDF alone can be considered as an alternative regimen for IDUs and heterosexually active adults. PrEP can provide a high level of protection against HIV, and is even more effective when it is combined with condoms, ART and other prevention methods. PrEP is currently facing great challenges including ethical issues, drugs accessibility, adherence, and low utilization rate, and should be further recommended for high-risk people to reduced HIV infection.