How To Protect Yourself From HIV

PrEP is a prescription medicine for people who do not have HIV but face ongoing risk—such as individuals with an HIV-positive partner, those who have condomless sex with partners of unknown status, or people who inject drugs. Two once-daily oral options are licensed in the United States. Truvada combines tenofovir disoproxil fumarate with emtricitabine and is approved for men, women, and adolescents at risk from sexual activity or injection-drug use. Descovy pairs tenofovir alafenamide with emtricitabine and is indicated for sexually active men and transgender women but not for receptive vaginal sex, because clinical data in that population are still limited. A long-acting alternative, Apretude, delivers cabotegravir by intramuscular injection every two months after an initial loading phase. When taken as directed, oral PrEP reduces sexual HIV transmission by about 99 percent; the injectable version shows similar protection. Users must test negative for HIV before starting PrEP and return for follow-up every three months to repeat the test, monitor kidney function, and renew the prescription.

PEP is an emergency regimen for people who may have been exposed to HIV within the previous 72 hours—through condom failure, sexual assault, or an occupational needle stick. The sooner treatment begins, the better it works, and starting after three days offers little benefit. PEP consists of a three-drug cocktail taken for 28 consecutive days. Most protocols pair the two-drug backbone found in Truvada with an integrase inhibitor such as raltegravir or dolutegravir. Follow-up HIV testing occurs immediately, at the end of the 28-day course, and again at three months to confirm the exposure did not lead to infection. PEP is not a substitute for routine prevention; it is intended for emergencies.

If an HIV test returns positive, prevention medicines switch to full antiretroviral therapy. Standard ART combines at least three drugs from two classes—often an integrase inhibitor plus the same nucleoside-reverse-transcriptase inhibitors used in PrEP. Treatment is lifelong, but modern regimens involve one or two pills a day or an every-other-month injectable pairing, and they can suppress viral levels to the point that blood tests cannot detect them. At that “undetectable” threshold, sexual transmission effectively drops to zero, a principle summarized as “undetectable = untransmittable” (U=U). One such treatment for HIV is Dovato, which is used to treat HIV with one pill daily. Another such pill is Biktarvy.

Together, PrEP, PEP, and ART form a continuum of care. PrEP suits people who anticipate exposure; PEP rescues those caught unprepared; and ART preserves health after infection. All three rely on the same underlying science—antiretroviral drugs that block HIV’s ability to copy itself—and all require close partnership with a health-care provider for testing, lab work, and adherence support. With these tools used correctly, HIV can be prevented, controlled, and rendered non-infectious, offering individuals and communities a clear path to ending transmission.

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Sources:
HIV.gov – Using HIV Medication to Reduce Risk: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis
CDC – Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
MedlinePlus – HIV: PrEP and PEP
National Institutes of Health – Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
Cleveland Clinic – Post-Exposure Prophylaxis