HIV breakthrough: Trial shows drug provides 100% protection
universityworldnews.com
universityworldnews.com
I want to say also that I recognize this trial was largely among presumably heterosexual people in an HIV stricken region, but my experience is in the gay and trans community in the USA and I wanted to share a personal story of the value these drugs have had for us. My story will no doubt attract some weird comments, but I hope we all recognize the value of consenting adults making their own choices. We all deserve to find our joy, and I suspect most of us recognize the value of sex and pleasure in some form or another. I hope my story provides some insight in to what drugs like this can mean to communities around the world. Love to all people. <3
Edit: By the way here’s some book recommendations on polyamory. You too can find this joy if you’re in the right community and you develop the skills to handle things with maturity and respect, while identifying others who have done the same work. It’s been a ten year journey for me, but it has been well worth it. Books: “More Than Two, 2nd edition” (2nd edition is in preprint but recommended over the first) “Polysecure”, “Polywise”. Good luck exploring! Oh and finding a supporting therapist made all the difference for me in this journey too. That one is harder but see the directory on the Psychology Today website and take advantage of their filters.
As an older straight male, I grew up when it was still commonplace to be openly hateful toward your community and it’s taken decades for me to unlearn that hatred I learned as a child, but the effort has been worth it, so I thank you for your effort to educate me, as I still have a lot to learn from your community.
In my world, sex without a condom with people you do not know and trust is asinine.
And as I understand it from my interaction with gay people, it is not that they take PrEP to reduce the non zero chances of contracting HIV while having protected sex, but it is to be able to have unprotected sex while completely disregarding other STIs.
I agree that PrEP should mainly be seen as a means of derisking the worst case scenario of what happens when a condom breaks, falls off, etc. It's an amazing gift in the fight against HIV, but only for HIV, not the other diseases.
I wouldn't say this mindset is present in all gay people though, one should differentiate. Many gay people I talk to are very aware of the distinction.
I don't really have sex with people I don't have some level of trust with, but we are all sleeping around a bit and even someone you trust can make mistakes. Most STIs are curable or not a big deal, but HIV changes your entire life. With PrEP, you allow yourself some freedom to take a calculated risk. I mostly don't have sex with someone unless they are on PrEP too, because I only have sex with responsible mature people and in our community, taking PrEP is the responsible and mature thing to do. But we are still fooling around with a lot of people. If I am on PrEP and the person I am hooking up with is on PrEP, the chances of getting a life changing STI become extremely low.
There is another factor. With my doctor's office, which sees a lot of people in the community, they won't let you be on PrEP unless you get tested every three months. So in many cases if someone is on PrEP they are also getting regular testing done. That is not a direct result of PrEP, just an administrative side effect, but what it means is that if I go to a sex party and someone wants to go down on me, as happened in January, then if we are both on PrEP and getting tested every three months, then that interaction is very safe. When I did this it was with someone my girlfriend (who was also at the party with me) knew before I did, so there was some level of community trust there.
Hope that is a helpful answer.
My friend used to volunteer at an LGBTQ support shelter. She knew gay men who had promiscuous unprotected sex 20 years ago. Some of these people had been so marginalized by society and abandoned by their families that the connection from their random sexual encounters was the only thing they had. She knew a guy that was willing to do it no matter the risks. One day he found he had contracted HIV, and not long after he committed suicide.
I’ve been to sex parties before I was on PrEP, and the arrangement is the same. Have a conversation about testing, and if everything sounds good have unprotected oral or use condoms for penetration.
The difference is that now with PrEP this feels much safer as one of the most significant STIs is no longer nearly as easily transmitted.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39538568
How lovely. Not sad at all.
You were the one saying that you take PrEP to feel more comfortable having sex with people you do not know so well, or in sex parties.
Your argument that gay people are so marginalised that ephemeral sexual encounters are the only form of community or socialisation they have simply does not hold with a very cursory interaction with the gay community, whether that be in person or online.
See I don't really buy that. Because I have seen what the gay community in Berlin is like. Nobody is marginalised any more, it is more than accepted. It is even celebrated.
And they still have two hookups in a random toilet or in sleazy saunas before lunch.
And of course not all gay men are like that. But male sexuality tends to be more uninhibited. Why don't female lesbians display this behaviour ?
I am against the prevailing hedonistic culture. A culture that promotes eudemonia instead, is in my opinion greatly beneficial to both the individual and the society.
But you do you.
> Why don't female lesbians display this behaviour?
Try undergoing a transition from a testosterone dominant system to an estrogen dominant system and you will understand. The nature of sexual urges under testosterone is very different from that of estrogen. Arousal under testosterone feels very urgent. I can control myself but imagine an abused 20 year old who never learned healthy self management. Without PrEP their urges may get them killed before they ever learn to control their impulses.
> I am against the prevailing hedonistic culture.
You can be against whatever you want. I am just explaining some facts about the benefits of PrEP for people that think differently from you.
Exactly my point. Ephemeral promiscuous sexual relationships are not due to marginalisation, but inability of what seems to be the majority of gay men to manage their sexual impulses. PrEP facilitates that, and aids in the spread of all other diseases, as in the absence of HIV the protection levels people opt for are super low.
I also wrote a more detailed response to a related comment here:
“Do as thou wilt, consenting adult” is one thing, but superspreader behavior affects the whole world through the network of relationships we all have with each other.
For gonorrhea, that’s what the clear conversation about testing status and other partners is about. I ask the person about everyone they have been with since a few weeks before they got tested, and what protection they used and the testing status of that person. Usually it’s only a few people because I don’t do the super promiscuous hookups some people do and I won’t have sex with someone who does. If worst case they contracted gonorrhea in between their recent test and the time we play and I contract it from oral sex with them, then my next plan would be antibiotics. If that fails and it’s antibiotic resistant, then that’s the risk I take. But you can see there are multiple steps along the way to reduce that risk.
Monkeypox doesn’t require sex to transmit. If I’m making out with someone or cuddling that’s still a risk, and I cuddle with a lot of people. I should probably get the vaccine. Lice also don’t have anything to do with sex. There’s a lot of ways you can be in close enough contact with other people who have lice. But seriously I haven’t seen that one since I was a child. Not even on my radar.
I have the HPV vaccine. Genital warts are caused by HPV so that’s probably low risk for me.
Syphilis is another one that comes with regular testing, so the risks are a similar story to gonorrhea.
I am vaccinated against Hepatitis B.
All of this stuff is calculated risk. Sex is extremely fulfilling for me, and every person likes to have sex differently. I did monogamy for 20 years. I had some great sex but I never experienced the joy and variety of sex that I have until recently. Living as a human being involves some risk. If you go hiking in the wilderness you could get killed by a bear. But people take steps.
And “just throw antibiotics at it” is a mischaracterization of my approach. I go through regular rigorous testing, I have clear direct communication with others about their testing status and sexual history, I only do oral without barriers but do use barriers for penetration, and most of the people I’m sleeping with are people I’ve known for a while or other people close to me know.
There’s no superspreader behavior. There is careful effort to reduce risk significantly and an awareness and acceptance of the risks as they exist.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40742163 Gilead shot prevents all HIV cases in trial (bloomberg.com) — 24 days ago, 438 comments
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40882506 A new way to prevent HIV delivers dramatic results in trial (npr.org) — 9 days ago, 5 comments
Others?
And lots of discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40742163
Do I understand correctly that this means an individual HIV virus cannot replicate in the presence of the drug? I assume there must be more to it because otherwise this would be a cure?
How does that work? Does it just stay in body forever without being filtrred by liver or kidneys?
oh course, you cant sell vaccine over and over
> In an ideal world, governments will be able to purchase this affordably and it will be offered to all who want it and need protection against HIV.
Well, since we don't live in an ideal world, we'll have to see what "not-ideal" looks like...
Maybe I am too cynical, but I don't expect the pharma industry to fix something that is good for the bottom line.
How much tri-therapy cost?
But he will be competing with more interesting propositions, investment-wise, in he form of subscription drugs.
Ergo, "why ?" is "probably because of money".