Contents:
- Medical Video: HIV Prevention Update: Treatment as Prevention, PREP, and PEP (2017)
- Should I take PrEP if my partner is HIV positive?
- Still have to use a condom during sex, even though you regularly take PrEP
- What else do I need to know about PrEP?
Medical Video: HIV Prevention Update: Treatment as Prevention, PREP, and PEP (2017)
When you are infected with HIV, you will have it for life. There is also no cure for HIV. This is what makes HIV a frightening specter in the community. Especially if you hear an HIV positive partner. You might also be worried about contracting HIV from him. Because the HIV virus is very easily transmitted through sex.
So if you live in a house with someone who is HIV positive, you need to know ways to protect yourself from HIV transmission. One way is to take PrEP medicine.
Should I take PrEP if my partner is HIV positive?
Once the doctor knows that your partner is HIV positive, he will usually prescribe you a PrEP medication. PrEP medicine (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a drug to prevent infection for people at high risk of contracting HIV. Quoted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP is a combination of two HIV drugs namely tenofovir and emtricitabine which are sold under the name Truvada®.
So, how important is it for you to take PrEP if your partner is HIV positive? The answer, must be because it is very important and very necessary. Still according to the CDC, PrEP is one of the effective ways to prevent HIV if used consistently. You are recommended to take this medication once a day to prevent transmission of HIV infection from an HIV-positive partner.
PrEP can protect you optimally from HIV transmitted through anal sex after 7 days of use. Meanwhile, PrEP can protect maximally from HIV transmission through vaginal sex and needle use after 20 days of consumption. This drug can be well tolerated by the body for up to five years of use.
Still have to use a condom during sex, even though you regularly take PrEP
Even so, PrEP does not automatically 100% make you free from HIV. Used alone, its efficacy is only about 92 percent to reduce your risk of contracting HIV.
To further increase its effectiveness in preventing HIV, it is still important for both of you to always practice safe sex by using a condom. Routine drinking PrEP and always using a condom during sex with a partner who is HIV positive can guarantee you 100% avoid the risk of HIV transmission.
In addition, condom use can also provide you protection from the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea (gonorrhea) or chlamydia. Taking PrEP alone will not protect you from the risk of venereal disease.
It is also important to undergo regular HIV and venereal disease tests together.
What else do I need to know about PrEP?
PrEP is a drug with minimal risk of side effects so it is safe for long-term consumption. The most common side effects of PrEP are nausea, but not severe to interfere with daily activities.
You can also stop using PrEP if the risk of HIV exposure decreases. For example, you stop mutually sex partners or no longer use syringes together. However, you still need to consult a doctor if you plan to stop using this drug.
