A common antibiotic is poised to become a “morning-after” pill to reduce the spread of chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea among populations at higher risk for contracting those bacterial infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week issued a preliminary recommendation for doxycycline to be prescribed to members of two groups — trans women and men who have sex with men — who also have experienced at least one sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the previous year and who are at ongoing risk to acquire an STI.
Preventive doxycycline is “the best new intervention that’s been identified for STI prevention for quite a long time,” said Dr. Connie Celum, a professor of global health and medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “Every year for the last six or seven years, there’s been an increase in bacterial STIs in the U.S. So the current approach of testing and treating is just not enough.”
