Undeveloped HIV drug appears in gay community

By Marc Shoffman • March 29, 2006 - 0:00

The drug successfully kept the virus from reproducing in trials

No Comments Yet on Undeveloped HIV drug appears in gay community

Scientists are pushing through a new AIDs treatment in reaction to fears that an immunity may be built up after reports of gay men already getting hold of the anti viral drug.

Medical experts at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention believe they have developed a drug which could prevent the spread of HIV, since recently successful tests on

monkeys.

Officials say they are ready to perform early human tests around the world.

Thomas Folks, head of the HIV research lab, said: "This is the first thing I've seen that I think could have a prevention impact,"

"If it works, it could be distributed quickly and could blunt the epidemic."

The drug successfully kept the virus from reproducing in trials, unlike other treatments such as vaccines which just boost the immune system.

However, health care workers told The Scotsman that some uninfected gay men have already got hold of the anti-viral drugs from friends with AIDS or doctors willing to prescribe them. They fear this could lead to a drug resistant strain of the virus.

Share this story with the world These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.