PrEP, PEP, & U=U

PrEP and PEP

The UHS Primary Care Office offers Prep Pre-exposure HIV Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-exposure HIV Prophylaxis (PEP). PrEP is a prescription medication that can be taken routinely to help reduce your chances of getting HIV. It’s typically one pill that you take once a day. PEP is the “Plan B” of HIV prevention – a course of medications taken for 1 month, starting within 3 days of a potential HIV exposure.

Who should consider PrEP? If you’re sexually active, you have (or anticipate to have) one or more partners that you don’t know their HIV status, and you aren’t always consistent about using condoms or other barriers every time you have sex, you might consider speaking to a provider about PrEP. Although PrEP is more heavily marketed to men who have sex with men, people of any gender identity and sexual orientation can take PrEP.

If you are interested in learning more about PrEP, beginning a PrEP prescription, or continuing to take it if it has already been prescribed to you, make an appointment with your UHS Primary Care Provider. PrEP patients meet with a provider every three months (90 days) for follow-up care that may include things like blood tests, HIV & STD screenings, and assessment of any drug side effects.

If you need a prescription for PEP, call UHS as soon as possible, as medications must be started within 72 hours of HIV exposure. PEP can also be obtained at the URMC Outpatient Pharmacy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is only a very brief walk or shuttle ride away from campus. You do not need a prescription or appointment to start treatment through their pharmacy; call 585-275-4931 and ask to speak to a pharmacist if you have questions. Trillium Health also provides access to PEP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; for this service, call 1-800-923-9394.

Under New York state law, health insurance plans purchased in NY must cover all visits, labs, and generic medication costs associated with PrEP and PEP with $0 cost to the patient. If you are on a plan from another state – such as your parents’ insurance plan – coverage may vary; visits at UHS are always free and covered by your student health fee, but lab fees and medication copays are determined by your health insurance company. If you have a plan from outside of New York State and lab fees or medication costs are a concern, you can speak to your provider about assistance programs that may be able to help.

U=U

While we’re talking about PrEP, PEP, and HIV prevention, it’s also important to talk about ending HIV stigma. U=U means “undetectable is untransmittable” — If a person has HIV but they are consistent about taking their medications and they have been “undetectable” for at least 6 months, there is essentially no risk of sexual transmission of HIV.

What does undetectable mean? If a person is taking medications to treat HIV, one of the tests that their providers might check is a “viral load,” which essentially measures how much HIV virus is in their blood.  If they are consistent about taking their medications every day, the amount of virus typically eventually gets so low that we can’t even find it; it’s “undetectable.”

What does untransmittable mean? There have been zero documented cases of sexual transmission of HIV from a person with an undetectable viral load. If a person stops their HIV medication regimen, the viral load increases and the risk of transmission returns. U=U, PrEP, PEP, condoms, testing, and talking to your partners about their HIV status are all ways to reduce HIV risk, and a person can choose to use all, some, or none of these methods.