World AIDS day takes place on Dec. 1 of each year. The day is meant to hold observance for those who lost their lives during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, raise awareness about HIV and a call to action for ending the stigma around HIV. The HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980’s and has caused over 36 million people to die of AIDS-related illnesses since the beginning of the epidemic. Just over four decades have passed since the epidemic began, and we are starting to see new effective treatments and preventatives against the virus. There have been great strides made towards ending the HIV epidemic and ending the stigma against those living with the disease.
What is HIV?
HIV itself is a virus that attacks immunity cells that would usually ward off infection, making the person who is infected with HIV more susceptible to other illnesses. HIV is spread through bodily fluids and if left untreated can lead to AIDS, the late-stage version of the viral infection. According to hiv.gov, the average life expectancy for someone who has developed AIDS is three years but could be even less if left untreated. However, if you are regularly tested for HIV and catch the virus early, there are several treatment options that now allow people to live full lives with HIV.
Treatments for HIV
There are both treatment and preventative options for those who may be at risk of contracting HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, is a type of medication approved in 2012 to prevent contracting HIV. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, using PrEP reduces the risk of contracting HIV through the transmission of bodily fluids by 99% and reduces the risk of contraction through injection by 74%. If you do contract HIV, there is not yet a cure for the virus, but the most common treatment option is called antiretroviral therapy (ART) to help control the virus. The treatment reduces the amount of HIV in the bloodstream so that the virus cannot attack the immune system to the extent that it would if left untreated.
Is an HIV vaccine in sight?
After the development of the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 was developed, many looked at mRNA vaccines as a potential option for an easy HIV preventative. While there had been a possible vaccine called Imbokodo that had begun Phase II trials in 2017, it was recently discontinued in September after there was no statistical significance of its effect. However, Moderna announced that they had begun Phase I trials of an HIV mRNA vaccine. While there have been no updates since this announcement and vaccine trials could take years, there is some hope after Moderna’s COVID-19 shot was deemed highly effective at preventing the virus.
