https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7125-7001
![Sample our Bioscience journals, sign in here to start your access, Latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5925/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Bioscience.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Objectives
We aimed to develop a guidance on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV tailored to the Belgian context.
Methods
Different aspects of PrEP care were judged by an expert group of nine Belgian clinicians, seeking consensus for areas of controversies.
Results
PrEP should be considered in HIV negative patients at high risk of acquiring HIV. Currently, only oral tenofovir/emtricitabine is available in Belgium for PrEP, which can be used daily, or also event-driven in cisgender men and trans women who are not taking exogenous estradiol-based hormones. Personal counselling directed at medication adherence and sexual health should have a central role in PrEP care. At the initial assessment clinicians should give attention to symptoms of an acute HIV infection, the patients’ immunization status and renal function. A regular follow-up must be set up to diagnose HIV seroconversion, treat sexually transmitted infections, and manage side effects of PrEP.
Conclusion
The Belgian guidance on the use of PrEP provides a point of reference for standard PrEP care in Belgium and will be periodically updated.
KEYWORDS:
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dirk Avonts, Vincent Barvaux, Rémy Demeester, Pierre-Louis Deudon and Marie-Angélique De Scheerder for critical reading of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17843286.2024.2356337