Gay men who take daily anti-HIV pills can have unprotected sex without transmitting the Aids virus to their partner, major research confirmed today.
The eight-year study, led by University College London , found the men whose “viral load” was reduced to undetectable levels by antiretroviral therapy (ART) were “sexually non-infectious”.
The results backed up an earlier study, which found HIV transmission risk for heterosexual couples was zero.
Experts said the preliminary findings — being presented at Aids 2018, a public health conference being held this week in Amsterdam — highlighted the importance of early detection of HIV in preventing the spread of the disease.
ART involves taking pills daily to stop the HIV virus replicating. The Partner2 study followed almost 1,000 gay couples from 14 countries where one partner was HIV positive and on ART and the other was HIV negative. There were almost 77,000 episodes of condomless sex between 2010 and 2018, with no linked HIV infections.
Dr Alison Rodger, of UCL Institute for Global Health, said: “The study was designed to find whether HIV transmission occurs in gay men when viral load was suppressed. Despite these couples having sex without condoms, 75,000 times we did not find a single case.
“Partner2 data provides robust evidence that the risk of HIV transmission with suppressive ART is effectively zero. These results underline the importance of earlier diagnosis and treatment and will improve the quality of life for HIV positive people and their partners.” Deborah Gold, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: “This is all the more reason to ramp up efforts on testing for HIV.”
A bid to cure HIV by “waking” then eradicating HIV in ART patients has failed. Researchers hoped forcing HIV out of “hiding” to destroy it could have enabled patients to stop taking daily medication. But a three-year trial found no difference in patients’ HIV levels.
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