Summary Homework

Dear Grade 10s

Due to some "technical problems" I have been unable to give you a hard copy of this.
Please summarise this article:

You need to write 5 bullet points (3 marks) and a paragraph of 85-90 words (7 marks).

1) Truvada: the first drug to prevent HIV infections.
Doctors now have another weapon against HIV/AIDS in their arsenal, and it’s a potent one. For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug treatment that will prevent infection in healthy people.
The drug, called Truvada, which is already approved for the treatment of HIV in infected patients, works by lowering the amount of virus circulating in people’s blood. But clinical trials show that it can also protect uninfected high-risk people from acquiring the virus, if they take the drug daily before and after exposure.
The drug can treat people who are infected with HIV by lowering the amount of virus in their bodies and slowing down the progression of the disease. In healthy, uninfected people, the drug can thwart HIV’s ability to take hold in healthy cells and start an infection, by blocking the activity of an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate. This drug does not cure HIV.

The approval is controversial. Some public health experts argue that allowing the drug to be used for prevention will foster a false sense of security among users, leading people to believe mistakenly that they are immune to the virus and reduce their use of condoms. However, the FDA determined that the benefits of expanding the pool of people who may use Truvada to protect against HIV made it worth approving.Some experts believe that healthy people may not take the drug correctly — it needs to be taken daily to be effective — which would encourage HIV to become resistant to the medication. Public health officials also worry that people may engage in more risky behaviors when they are on the drug, believing they are protected completely against HIV, which they are not. (287 words)

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/17/truvada-5-things-to-know-about-the-first-drug-to-prevent-hiv/#ixzz20xYONC9m


MEMO
I am assuming that you have all done this work...
Here is my response to the summary task.


>Truvada: the First drug to prevent HIV infections:
Bullet points:
1) There is a new, powerful drug that can prevent healthy people from contracting HIV.
2) Truvada decreases the amount of the virus in a person’s blood and slows its progression.
3) The medication cannot cure HIV.
4) There are concerns that the drug may make people complacent and less likely to protect themselves against HIV infection.
5) If used correctly the benefits of the drug may outweigh concerns.

Paragraph:
There is a new, powerful drug available that may prevent healthy people from getting HIV and slows the progress of the virus in infected people. The drug decreases the amount of the drug in a person’s body and inhibits the virus’s ability to replicate but does not cure HIV. There are concerns, however, that making the drug available will encourage complacency and discourage the use of condoms in healthy people. The FDA has found that the benefits of the drug outweigh the possible harm it may cause. 87 words