Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is the use of medications to prevent the spread of disease in people who have not yet been exposed to a disease-causing agent. Vaccination is the most commonly used form of pre-exposure prophylaxis; other forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis generally involve drug treatment, known as chemoprophylaxis. Examples include taking medication to prevent infection by malaria or HIV. In particular, the term PrEP is now synonymous in popular usage with the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention.
In general, the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis requires balancing the risks of the treatment (e.g., side effects from a drug) to healthy individuals with the risk of the disease.
It should be contrasted with post-exposure prophylaxis, which is used once the patient has already been exposed to the infectious agent.
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