[matthewmacleod]

It's true that there are definitely some side-effects and we'll need to wait and see what the long-term consequences are. The good news is that they at least appear to be well-tolerated drugs, and newer drugs show fewer adverse effects - minor bone-density reduction and renal function impact are the main adverse effects of Tenofovir + Emtricitabine, with no obvious effect on bone marrow for example.

But it's quite a tricky decision to make. Vaccines aren't without risk either, though adverse reactions are also rare. Certainly from a cost perspective, PReP with high efficiency makes a lot of sense – lifetime treatment and monitoring of an HIV+ patient can be markedly more expensive than a relatively cheap preventative medication, especially in high-risk groups.

I have been beating around the idea of taking PReP for a while, what with being part of a higher-risk group in an area with relatively high HIV prevalence. It's definitely a harder commitment to make than vaccination is, but I hope that we can improve our knowledge and understanding of the risks as the trials currently underway progress.