Is Nonoccupational PEP Effective?

HIV seroconversion occurred in approximately 1% of adults who received PEP after nonoccupational exposure. Whether these seroconversions represent failures of PEP is unclear.

Antiretroviral therapy is commonly administered for nonoccupational postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), but how effective is it? Researchers in San Francisco evaluated the rate of HIV seroconversion among 702 men and women who initiated PEP following a high-risk exposure to HIV through unprotected sex or intravenous drug use. Subjects received a 28-day course of two NRTIs (AZT/3TC, d4T + 3TC, or d4T + ddI). HIV-antibody testing was done at baseline and at 12 weeks.

HIV seroconversion occurred in seven patients (1%), all men who had reported receptive anal intercourse as their high-risk exposure. Efforts to identify and recruit source partners were unsuccessful, but in four seroconversions, the source partner was known to be HIV-positive. Althoug…

Reviewing Author

G. Sonia Nagy, MD

Is Nonoccupational PEP Effective?

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Reviewing Author