Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is recommended for individuals with elevated risks for HIV infection. It involves taking the pill Truvada, which contains the drug tenofovir and emtricitabine. A new study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, however suggests, that individuals with increased likelihood for HIV are also less likely to contact genital herpes if they use the drug tenofovir alone or tenofovir plus emtricitabine.
Herpes is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) that can be contracted through sexual contact with an infected individual. The condition, which is widely prevalent in the U.S., affects about one in every six people between 14 and 49 years old. Infected individuals may not be aware they have the disease as it may or may not exhibit symptoms which include itching and having blisters appearing on or around the genitals, mouth or rectum, and flu-like symptoms such as fever and body aches.
In a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on July 1, University of Washington International Clinical Research Center director Connie Celum and colleagues found evidence that PrEP does not only protect against HIV but also lowers risks for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), an added benefit particularly because genital herpes raises likelihood for HIV infection.
"About 20 percent of adults in the U.S. have genital herpes infection, and about 50 percent of adults in Africa," Celum said. "Previous studies have indicated that genital herpes increases the risk of becoming HIV-infected by about two-fold."
For the study, the researchers followed nearly 1,500 individuals in Kenya and Uganda, who do not have HIV or herpes simplex 2 at the start of the study and were randomly given placebo, tenofovir, or a combo of tenofovir and emtricitabine e.g Truvada.
They found that study participants who received tenofovir alone lowered their risks of contracting herpes simplex 2 by 24 percent and those who took Truvada reduced their risks by 36 percent compared with the participants who received placebo.
"Daily oral tenofovir-based PrEP significantly reduced the risk for HSV-2 acquisition among heterosexual men and women," Celum and colleagues wrote. "Modest protection against HSV-2 is an added benefit of HIV-1 prevention with oral tenofovir-based PrEP."
Despite the promising results, it is least likely that tenofovir will be used to reduce risks of herpes alone. For one, there are side effects associated with the drug and many will find it prohibitive. The tenofovir combination drug costs $1,000 per month in the U.S.
