A new study shows that the use of suppressive
antiretroviral drugs reduces the risk of sexual transmission of the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) between partners to zero.
Conducted by researchers at the
University College London, the study examined the risk of HIV transmission
through condomless sex in gay couples with the HIV-positive partner taking
suppressive antiretroviral therapy.
Over the space of eight years,
the study monitored more than 1,000 male couples in Europe where one partner
tested HIV positive and underwent antiretroviral therapy.
At the end of the study period,
no case of virus transmission was found among men who stayed faithful to their
partners and had unprotected sex.
DNA testings published in The
Lancet journal revealed that 15 men who were infected with the virus during the
study period had sex with someone other than their partners and were not
subject to the therapy.
According to the researchers, the
study validates the claim that once HIV is suppressed with antiretroviral
drugs, gay patients can have sex without infecting their partners.
“Our findings provide conclusive
evidence for gay men that the risk of HIV transmission with suppressive ART is
zero,” Alison Rodger, co-researcher and professor at UCL said.
The study is the latest
scientific inquiry assessing HIV risks between gay partners — where one tested
HIV-positive and the other negative.
In March, researchers had
announced the ‘London patient’ as the second man to be ‘functionally cured’ of
HIV following a bone marrow transplant from an HIV-resistant donor.
A Canadian study conducted in
2018 had also stated that the widespread of HIV can be curbed if suppressed
with medications.
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