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Health officials encourage adults to test for HIV, consider PrEP

In San Diego County, one in 10 people who are infected with HIV are not aware of it. This means that they are not getting HIV treatment to stay healthy and could infect others.

County Health and Human Services Agency officials are encouraging people to get tested and to ask their doctor about getting pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP.

"Every week, eight people are diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in San Diego. Everyone 18 and over should get tested, whether they think they are at risk or not," said Patrick Loose, chief of the HHSA HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch.

Getting tested is easy to do. You can ask your doctor to perform the HIV test during a routine physical exam or you can go to a County STD clinic and have it done there. In most circumstances, you will generally have the results in 20 minutes or less.

Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, about 15,000 San Diego County residents have been diagnosed with AIDS. Since 2006, more than 5,400 residents have been diagnosed with HIV disease.

Advances in medication and treatment have helped people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. The annual number of deaths among persons with HIV has declined by 87 percent since 1994 when the highest number of AIDS deaths was reported.

PrEP can reduce risk of getting HIV

County health officials are also encouraging residents to reduce their risk of getting HIV by getting pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEp, which can be 99 percent effective when used daily.

Truvada®, produced by Gilead Sciences, Inc., is a medication that is commonly used as part of combination therapy to treat HIV infection. However, HIV-negative people also can take it as a daily pill to reduce their risk of getting HIV in the first place.

PrEP requires HIV-negative people to take the medication daily to help protect them from getting HIV if they are exposed to the virus by a sexual or injection-drug-using partner who is HIV-positive. Prophylaxis means to prevent or control the spread of an infection or disease. PrEP can be prescribed only by a doctor or health care provider, but there are programs available that help uninsured and underinsured individuals access PrEP with little or no cost. A PrEP Navigator can be reached at 619-692-6621 to provide more information or even schedule an appointment with a care provider.

Also, you must take an HIV test before beginning PrEP, to be sure you don't already have HIV, and every three months while you're taking it, so you'll have to get regular follow-ups. Before you start PrEP, your doctor should also test your kidneys to make sure they are working well.

"Adults should talk to their doctor about getting on PrEP. It can help them prevent getting HIV if they are exposed to the virus," said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer.

Testing people for HIV and encouraging them to get on PrEP are part of Live Well San Diego, the County's vision to improve the health and well-being of local residents; visit http://www.livewellsd.org/ for more information.

To learn more about HIV and AIDS and testing locations, visit http://www.stdsandiego.org.

 

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