"I have a pretty high threshold for pain, but I had never experienced electroporation before, a procedure in which an electric current is used to disrupt cell membranes and make them more permeable to medical treatments."
"It's gonna be like somebody punched your arm. So I go in, I'm a little cavalier about it. The medical team held me down on the exam table, startling me, before giving me an electric jolt and a type of vaccine called a DNA vaccine simultaneously."
"I screamed, I'm like, 'That was not a punch, that was an electric shock, people!' Unfortunately for Perrault, the procedure had to be immediately repeated in his other arm."
Tom Perrault participated in a UCSF medical trial using electroporation to treat HIV. This procedure disrupts cell membranes to enhance treatment effectiveness. Despite the pain, with nearly 39,000 new HIV infections in the U.S. in 2023, the trial aims to improve immune responses against the virus. Perrault described the experience as more intense than expected, recalling the shock and subsequent trembling. The trial involves multiple therapies, and participants face the challenge of enduring painful procedures without guaranteed results.
Read at SFGATE
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