My last day at the Municipality was bittersweet. I spent the first part of the day in the reproductive health center. My preceptor was amazing, it could have been really uncomfortable asking such detailed sexual history but she managed to make it light and the patients were at ease. One thing I learned about was a preventative treatment for HIV called PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis). It is prescribed for people who are at high risk for contracting HIV. The pill is called Truvada- it is one of the drugs taken when someone is infected with HIV, but when someone does not have HIV it blocks the pathways the virus needs to successfully invade. Studies have shown to decrease the risk of infection by 90 % for high risk patients, and about 70% for injection drug users. After lunch there were not many appointments so I went back over to the DPC side of the building.
In the disease prevention and control side, Val and I watched a documentary about tuberculosis infection and disease around the world. The documentary ‘Exposed” had 4 parts- ‘The Race Against TB’, ‘Rise of a Superbug’, ‘The Innovation Movement’, and ‘The Last Mile’. It started by telling us about the prevalence of TB. Basically, even if we were to find the way to perfectly treat TB patients, unless we find a vaccine we will never be able to eradicate the disease because of how easily and effectively it spreads. The rise of EDR-TB (extremely drug resistant TB) is very dangerous and occurring more frequently than ever before. It used to only occur with patients who were noncompliant with their meds, now that strain can be transmitted to someone who has never even had the TB bacteria before. Thankfully, there are a number of clinical trials happening around the world with the goal of finding a vaccine. The problem is funding. They suggested a world alliance/pact dedicated to finding a vaccine. I wish we could be around next week when the Municipality holds a ‘World TB conference”. I think that would be really cool to observe.
Today (Friday) we started off our morning with a beautiful hike up Flattop trail. We ended up veering off of the path and making our own trail up the mountain to the top. It was tiring and super steep but the view was worth it! We ate dinner at Moose Tooth. It is ranked the 3rd best pizza place in the US. It was pretty good and the vibe was cool in the restaurant. I can't believe how quickly my time here as gone by!