An Australian man has tested HIV positive while undergoing treatment as prevention by using Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). The therapy has been show to reduce HIV transmission by up to 99 percent.
It is Australia's first such documented case, The Age reports:
Globally, hundreds of thousands of people use PrEP and there have only ever been two confirmed cases of infection with a drug-resistant strain of the virus by someone taking the medication correctly.
Both of these were reported in 2016, one in Toronto and one in New York.
In Amsterdam earlier this year, there was a third case of PrEP failure in a man following the prescribed course, through transmission of a drug-sensitive HIV strain, however this is still being investigated.
The case was documented at a clinic during a study of PrEP in Melbourne for which more than 600 people are on the waiting list.
PrEP is still considered to be extremely effective when used properly.
