In France, a drug designed to prevent HIV infection
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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French scientists made a breakthrough in the field of pharmacology: they managed to develop a drug that virtually eliminates HIV infection (the probability of infection is reduced by 90%). As noted by the researchers themselves, 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, the funds to combat the human immunodeficiency virus insist that the drug should be considered as a prophylactic drug that must be used before sexual intercourse.
In the United States, this technique has proved itself well. By the way, if you take the drug every day, then, quite, it can be regarded as a preventive therapy. As experts believe, the drug will not only reduce the number of new HIV infections , but also reduce healthcare costs aimed at preventing the virus of immunodeficiency.
Today there are around 34 million people diagnosed with HIV in the world. Most of the infected are in Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The source of the human immunodeficiency virus scientists have been trying to identify for many years. Recently, specialists managed to come to an understanding in the capital of Congo Kinshasa, where, apparently, the spread of the virus around the world began in the 1920s.
The first cases of the disease were described in detail thirty years ago and today millions of people around the world have been infected with a deadly virus. The most severe situation is in Tropical Africa, where every twentieth adult is diagnosed with HIV.
The virus has been transmitted from primates to humans at least 13 times, but only one case of transmission has provoked an epidemic of humanity. Having carried out a genetic analysis of the blood, specialists were able to identify the sources of the pandemic. It was the blood test that sent the scientists to Kinshasa. During the research it was possible to establish that the spread of the virus throughout tropical Africa in 1920-1950 was facilitated by the development of railway communication.
In the late 1940s, railroad services were used by millions of people, in addition, the spread of infection was significantly affected by the changes in society that began to occur in the 1960s. Because of all this, the virus has spread all over the world. Strictly speaking, during this period promiscuous sexual relations, prostitution, drug use became popular. Also during this period, reusable needles were actively used.
As a result, experts concluded that, despite the short time since the first transmission of the virus from primates to humans, the virus was able to spread around the world and took on alarming proportions.
In the 1960s, the virus, apart from the railway, began to spread by means of transport, as a result of which the virus was able to embrace 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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