HIV/AIDS Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Post-exposure === A course of antiretrovirals administered within 48 to 72 hours after exposure to HIV-positive blood or genital secretions is referred to as [[post-exposure prophylaxis]] (PEP).<ref name=Prevention2012/> The use of the single agent [[zidovudine]] reduces the risk of an HIV infection five-fold following a needle-stick injury.<ref name=Prevention2012>{{cite journal |title=HIV exposure through contact with body fluids |journal=Prescrire International |volume=21 |issue=126 |pages=100–01, 103–05 |date=April 2012 |pmid=22515138 }}</ref> {{As of|2013}}, the prevention regimen recommended in the United States consists of three medications—[[tenofovir]], [[emtricitabine]] and [[raltegravir]]—as this may reduce the risk further.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kuhar DT, Henderson DK, Struble KA, Heneine W, Thomas V, Cheever LW, Gomaa A, Panlilio AL |title=Updated US Public Health Service guidelines for the management of occupational exposures to human immunodeficiency virus and recommendations for postexposure prophylaxis |journal=[[Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology]] |volume=34 |issue=9 |pages=875–92 |date=September 2013 |pmid=23917901 |doi=10.1086/672271 |s2cid=17032413 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1235708 |access-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-date=June 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623220711/https://zenodo.org/record/1235708 |url-status=live }}</ref> PEP treatment is recommended after a [[sexual assault]] when the perpetrator is known to be HIV-positive, but is controversial when their HIV status is unknown.<ref name=NEJM2011Sex>{{cite journal |vauthors=Linden JA |title=Clinical practice. Care of the adult patient after sexual assault |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine |volume=365 |issue=9 |pages=834–41 |date=September 2011 |pmid=21879901 |doi=10.1056/NEJMcp1102869|s2cid=8388126 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The duration of treatment is usually four weeks<ref name=CochranePEP2007>{{cite journal |vauthors=Young TN, Arens FJ, Kennedy GE, Laurie JW, Rutherford GW |title=Antiretroviral post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for occupational HIV exposure |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |issue=1 |page=CD002835 |date=January 2007 |volume=2012 |pmid=17253483 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD002835.pub3 |pmc=8989146 |editor1-last=Young |editor1-first=Taryn }}</ref> and is frequently associated with adverse effects—where zidovudine is used, about 70% of cases result in adverse effects such as nausea (24%), fatigue (22%), emotional distress (13%) and headaches (9%).<ref name=AFP2007k/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page