company
Dr John Jain:
Hello, I’m Dr. John Jain from Santa Monica fertility and with me is Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas, an international expert in HIV. And today we’re going to talk about men with HIV having babies. Dr. Vagenas, could you give us an overview of HIV since its discovery in 1983?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
Absolutely. It’s been a long epidemic so far, but it has changed really from night to day. When HIV started, one of the HIV pandemics started in the 80s, it was almost certainly a death sentence. Nowadays, the pandemic, the infection has turned into a long term manageable chronic condition.
Dr John Jain:
What about the medications that have evolved over the many years?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
Again, it has been a huge difference, a huge improvement in what is available. Back in the day, at the very beginning of the HIV pandemic, there were no medications. Then we had some medications of limited effectiveness, and it took a while, actually till the year 1996, to discover that a combination of three different medications leads to the effective control of the HIV infection.
Dr John Jain:
So does undetectable mean cure?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
Undetectable doesn’t mean cure. Undetectable means that the virus levels in the blood are so small that it cannot be detected by the highly sensitive equipment that we have.
Dr John Jain:
What about the transmission for individuals who are undetectable as a result of the antiretroviral therapy? Can they still transmit the virus to sexual partners?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
So, there have been a number of studies conducted in the US and abroad that have shown that when one partner is HIV positive and undetectable, and the other partner is not HIV positive, to HIV negative, there are no situations of transmission between the HIV positive partner to HIV negative partner, which is something called ‘u equals u’ or ‘undetectable equals untransmissible’.
Dr John Jain:
What does the data say about men taking antiretroviral therapies, and the potential effect of the medication on their children?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
There is a lot of data especially on women, pregnant women taking antiretroviral therapy, and that has shown that it is very effective. There isn’t that much data about men and how that translates into their children. But given the data we have from other key other situations, we believe that there is no risk of transmission.
Dr John Jain:
Yes, and in fact, women with HIV who are pregnant are prescribed these.
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas: Absolutely, yes.
Dr John Jain:
What is prep?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
Prep stands for pre exposure prophylaxis. And basically it involves using antiretroviral medications, the same medications that we use for HIV positive people, but for HIV negative people. So HIV negative people take antiretroviral medications to prevent them acquiring HIV infection. And large scale studies that have been conducted have shown that it is over 90% effective.
Dr John Jain:
So a lot has happened in the last 40 years in the treatment of HIV. What can men with HIV, who are adherent to their medications, of course, what can they expect for their lifespan?
Dr. Panagiotis Vagenas:
Well, they can expect a normal lifespan. It has been shown by various clinical studies that in the last few years, men with HIV have reached the same life expectancy as other men. So this is really wonderful news, they can expect a really normal lifespan.
Dr John Jain:
It is excellent news, and it means that men can truly contemplate having children and more importantly, see those children reach adulthood. Well, thank you Dr. Vagenas and thank you for listening today.
