Is there a medicine that treats the AIDS virus if you know you got it within the first 24 hours of getting it?

Ok.. extrememly confusing.. but heres the story: I heard about a girl who was in Africa treating people with AIDS and she got raped by a paitent with AIDS and she took some kind of medication that suposedly killed the virus if it entered your body within 24 hours. Does anyone know FOR SURE if there is a true medication out there like that? If so, what is the name? Thanks! (its for school)

The treatment you are talking about is known as PPE or Post Exposure Prophylaxis. A series of anti retrovirals that need to be taken within the first 72 hours of exposure. They are generally taken over the course of a month, and involve taking several different tablets a day. Whilst there is no evidence to support that the treatment can prevent HIV infection, it is generally considered to greatly reduce the risk of infection. Also, in Australia at least, there has been no case of someone acquiring HIV after starting this treatment. So it is a pretty hopeful solution at least. The treatment is available from Sexual Health clinics and most public hospitals.

Yes, Retrovirales(Spanish).
Its basically the same medication for HIV+ patients.
People who work in the medical field use it when they get pricked by a needle or when they come in contact with large amounts of blood from their patients.

As in to have unprotected sex and acquire the virus and start taking medication from day 1, well there is a slight chance you might not get infected.

good day.

i dont think there's a definite cure for HIV+ patients but if u happen to get exposed to the virus, the physician generally starts the anti viral mediciations for prophylaxis.
as HIV is a retrovirus so they call the medications Anti Retrovirals.
but there is still on going research going on for its cure.

Supposedly, antiretroviral therapy, if taken immediately after an incident like that, is enough to stop trnsmission of the virus, because it might kill it before it has time to replicate to an extent to which the disease becomes manifest. No one knows for sure though, because it wouldn't be very ethical to do a sudy to find out! But it's better to be safe than sorry. After a rape, people are given a 28 day pack of ARV medication to help decrease their risk, in a continent like Africe, it's definitely worth the side effects that may be experienced!

I suppose if I was in such a situation I would take the PPE treatment. But actually no-one knows if it has any effect at all. It's true that no-one has developed an active HIV infection after taking the treatment. But its also true that none of these people had any way of knowing if they actually were infected. They took the treatment "just in case" they might be infected. Having sex with an HIV-positive partner does not guarantee that you are infected. Some couples with one HIV-positive partner have sexual relations regularly for a long time without the other partner becoming infected.