A service provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control

Search results

Refine by Type

Refine by Tag

Search results for "antiretroviral"

HAART prevents the HIV virus from making copies of itself and limits how much virus is in the body. The level of virus in the blood is called ‘viral load’. When the viral load is low or “undetectable”, there is less harm to the body’s...

PrEP is different from PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), as PrEP is taken before exposure to HIV and may be taken on a long-term basis. How does it work? PrEP usually comes as a combination tablet that contains two medications called...

In most cases, PEP stops HIV from establishing itself in the body and will prevent you from becoming HIV positive. To be effective, the treatment needs to be started as soon as possible in the first 72 hours after exposure. The treatment...

Preventing STIs An STI is caused when a bacteria, virus, or parasite is passed from one person to another during sexual contact. Some kinds of sex have a lower chance of passing STIs. For example, the chance of passing an STI is much less...

Causes HIV is passed through vaginal and anal sexual contact.  This includes both penetrative sex and sexual activities where there is an exchange of body fluids.  There is a very low chance that HIV may be passed through oral...

What is PrEP PrEP stands for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis. It is the use of daily antiretroviral therapy (ART) by HIV negative individuals to lower their chances of getting HIV. PrEP refers to the ongoing use of ART before and after possible...

Background Since 2009, BCCDC has been using a more sensitive HIV test (known as the NAAT - nucleic acid amplification test) for patients who present for HIV testing at several clinics in downtown Vancouver.   These clinics - the BCCDC...

Article reviewed Sáez-Cirión, A., Bacchus, C., Hocqueloux, L., Avettand-Fenoel, V., Girault, I., Lecuroux, C., and Rouzioux, C. (2013). Post-Treatment HIV-1 Controllers with a Long-Term Virological Remission after the Interruption of Early...

Background Oak Tree Clinic is studying the clinical effectiveness of a weekly text messaging intervention for improving the care and support of vulnerable and hard-to-reach HIV positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (cART). The study...

Background WelTel is a non-governmental organization committed to providing evidence-based, patient-centred mobile health solutions to support the management of HIV/AIDS and other health issues. WelTel's text-messaging support service was...

The ‘Transgender women removing healthcare barriers to engagement in the HIV prevention and care cascades: The development and pilot study of Transgender Education for Affirmative and Competent HIV and Healthcare (TEACHH)’ research team is...

Background Researchers at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) are hoping to determine whether text messaging is a useful tool for the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI). The capacity for instant...

A new campaign is launched Interior Health has launched a new campaign to encourage all adults in the region to get tested for HIV. The “My Health Is Sexy” campaign uses intimate images to convey the message that knowing your HIV status is...

Six billion. This was the world’s population at the turn of the century, and is now the estimated number of people with cell-phones across the globe.  Integrated into most people’s everyday lives, cell phones are...

HIV Pre-exposure prophylaxis (HIV PrEP) involves the use of a daily oral HIV medication (called antiretrovirals or HAART) by people who are HIV-negative to prevent HIV infection. As of January 2018, HIV PrEP became provincially-funded for...

Background People with newly-acquired HIV experience very high viral loads in the first two months after infection, and are more infectious during this period called acute HIV infection (AHI). We set out to learn about gay men’s...

Articles Reviewed Partners PrEP Study: Baeten JM et al. Antiretroviral prophylaxis for HIV prevention in heterosexual men and women. New England Journal of Medicine. 2012 Aug 2;367(5):399-410. FEM PrEP Study: Van Damme L et al. Pre-...

Article reviewed Dalla Pria A, Alfa-Wali M, Fox P, Holmes P, Weir J, Francis N, et al. High-resolution anoscopy screening of HIV positive MSM: longitudinal results from a pilot study. Aids. 2014;28:861-7 Purpose The prevalence and...

Background Since its introduction in 1996, combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART) has led to enormous improvements in the health and survival of HIV positive (HIV+) persons. However, the success of cART is intrinsic upon patient adherence...

This article was first published in CATIE News (April 10, 2014). Background The sexual transmission of HIV occurs after an exposure to fluids that contain HIV, such as semen and fluids from the vagina and rectum. The amount of virus in...