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Within 72 hours after risk: consider PEP If you’re at risk of getting hiv then you might be able to get a prescription for PEP (Post Exposure Profylaxe). PEP consists of taking pills that reduce the chance of getting infected with hiv. You have to take the pills for a month. PEP must be started as soon as possible: the sooner, the bigger the chance of success. Preferably the day itself or ultimately within 48 hours after the risk. A PEP-treatment is prescribed at the latest 72 hours after the risk. Concact a university hospital with an Aids Reference Cenre as soon as possible (addresses here). These hospitals are sure to have the needed medication available. PEP is not without consequence. The treatment is expensive and can have a lot of side-effects. That’s why a doctor won’t prescribe PEP after just any unsafe sex encounter. First the doctor will asses the situation. A doctor will take the partner you had sex with into consideration. Is he gay or straight? Is he from a country where there’s a lot of hiv? Does he have a history of drugs? Did you know him or not? Does your partner know if he has hiv and is he in treatment? But what you did is also important. Oral, vaginal, anal? Were there other STI’s already in the game? Individual doctors can make very different assessments. The chance of somebody getting hiv from unsafe sex has to be put against the consequences of the treatment. If it is sure that one of the partners has hiv and the sexual behavior means a risk of the other getting hiv, then there’s more reason to start PEP. If a PEP-treatment is needed because the condom ripped, make sure you use the condom properly. |