PITTSBURGH, September 18, 2007 — Giving a daily antiretroviral pill to people to prevent HIV could profoundly slow the spread of the infection in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is a full-blown epidemic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers report. Published by the Public Library of Science in the Sept. 19 issue of PLoS ONE, the findings are based on a mathematical model developed by the researchers to predict the public-health impact of pre-exposure chemoprophylaxis (PrEP) – an HIV prevention strategy that uses antiretroviral drugs, currently given in combination to treat HIV-positive individuals, to stop the infection from occurring in the first place.
