Taking an antibiotic after sex could help curb three common STDs

A new study shows that taking a single dose of a widely used antibiotic within 3 days after having sex can help prevent STDs.

The study, mainly in men who have sex with men in San Francisco and Seattle, was halted in May after an independent data monitoring board found that the strategy, known as DoxyPEP, reduced the risk of gonorrhea by more Only a small number of cases occurred during the trial to reach statistical significance. The data was to be presented at the International AIDS Conference.

Carlos del Rio is an HIV/AIDS clinician and researcher at the school of medicine. There are concerns that the regimen could lead to antibiotic resistance in the threebacteria that cause these diseases. A few years ago, the University of Paris Cité led a similar study in France. We don't know enough about the strategy to recommend it.

It has been around for more than 45 years and is used to treat and prevent many diseases. It is used to prevent Malaria in travelers. Increased sensitivity to sunlight is one of the side effects of the drug.

The success of HIV drugs has led to a rise in condomless sex in MSM. The drugs can lower the levels of the virus in people so much that they rarely transmit it and can also protect people who take them prophylactically before sex.

There was a small trial published in 2015. The MSM who were at high risk of infections because of their sexual behavior added the antibiotic to their regimen. When compared to 48 weeks with 15 MSM not given the antibiotic, the men who took the prophylactic had less infections. Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Southern California who co-led the trial, said that it was promising.

The study in France was based on the same idea but with a slight difference. After having condomless sex, participants take the drug once. There was no effect on gonorrhea rates.

Some of the participants in the new study were found to be at high risk for sexually transmitted diseases. The French study asked two-thirds of them to follow a protocol. Testing and treatment were given to the rest of the participants. Everyone was aware of what group they were in. One of the principal investigators is an infectious disease clinician at the University of California, San Francisco.

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says he is very excited about the results of the study. The CDC may soon issue preliminary guidance about the regimen for high-risk populations.

DoxyPEP's benefits outweigh the risk of antibiotic resistance according to researchers. The Neisseria gonorrhoeae is resistant to the other two STIs. The new study found that doxyPEP did not work against gonorrhea in France because 81% of the participants had resistance to it. "That's a no-brainer." He says that they don't know what will happen with the two STDs.

The U.S. team is studying antibiotic resistance. A different antibiotic class is now used to treat gonorrhea and doxyPEP won't have a practical impact. She doesn't see that as a big problem. DoxyPEP would only be recommended for people who are at high risk of getting a STD.

The doxyPEP study is about women who take pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV and have high rates of sexually transmitted infections. She says that the drug seems to have few drawbacks and that we need interventions now. The spread of the STIs may be reduced by treating those at highest risk.

Christopher Fairley is the head of the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University. Resistance genes can jump betweenbacteria if antibiotics are used. He says that many gonorrhea and chlamydia infections don't cause symptoms or resolve without treatment. Untreated syphilis can cause damage to the eyes, ears, and brain, and can lead to stillbirth in pregnant women.

The benefits outweigh the risks according to Klausner. He noted that some physicians who treat MSM already prescribe the vaccine for the disease. He says that patients in the community are aware of it. It's time to come up with recommendations.