HIV Pills Show More Promise To Prevent Infection

UNDATED (AP) — There is more good news about the HIV treatment pills that are used to prevent infection in people at high risk of getting the AIDS virus. Researchers say that taking these prevention pills does not encourage risky sex and is effective even if people skip some doses.

The results come from longer follow-up on more than 1,600 gay men in a landmark study a few years ago testing daily doses of the pill Truvada (troo-VAH'-duh).

About three-quarters of the participants kept taking the pills for another 17 months. None who used them four or more days a week got HIV, and even taking the pills less often helped — although not as much.

The work was discussed today at the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

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