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France has developed a drug that prevents HIV infection
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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French scientists have made a breakthrough in the field of pharmacology: they have managed to develop a drug that virtually eliminates HIV infection (the probability of infection is reduced by 90%). As the researchers themselves note, the maximum effect is observed directly during sex.
The new drug has already been tested on volunteers from the risk group. But, despite the fact that the new drug is quite effective and does not belong to preventive therapy drugs, funds for the fight against the human immunodeficiency virus insist that the drug be considered as a preventive one, which must be used before sexual intercourse.
In the United States, such a method has proven itself well. By the way, if you take the drug daily, it can be considered as a preventive therapy. As experts believe, the drug will not only reduce the number of new cases of HIV infection, but also reduce health care costs aimed at preventing the immunodeficiency virus.
Today, there are about 34 million people diagnosed with HIV in the world. The majority of those infected are in Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Scientists have been trying to determine the source of the human immunodeficiency virus for many years. Recently, specialists managed to get closer to the solution in the capital of Congo, Kinshasa, from where, apparently, the spread of the virus around the world began back in the 1920s.
The first cases of the disease were described in detail thirty years ago and today millions of people around the world are infected with the deadly virus. The most severe situation is observed in tropical Africa, where every twentieth adult has been diagnosed with HIV.
The virus has been transmitted from primates to humans at least 13 times, but only one transmission has caused a human epidemic. By conducting a genetic analysis of blood, specialists were able to identify the sources of the pandemic. It was the blood analysis that sent scientists to Kinshasa. During the research, it was possible to establish that the spread of the virus throughout tropical Africa in the 1920s-1950s was facilitated by the development of rail travel.
In the late 1940s, millions of people used railway services, and the spread of the infection was also significantly affected by the changes in society that began to occur in the 1960s. Because of all this, the virus gradually spread throughout the world. In fact, during this period, promiscuous sex, prostitution, and drug use became popular. Also during this period, reusable needles were actively used.
As a result, experts concluded that, despite the fact that little time had passed since the first transmission of the virus from primates to humans, the virus was able to spread throughout the world and acquired threatening proportions.
In the 1960s, the virus began to spread not only via rail, but also via transport, which allowed the virus to reach even more regions. But by that time, the beginning of the pandemic had already been recorded not only in Africa, but also beyond its borders.
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