Taking an antibiotic after sex could help curb three common STDs

A new study has shown that taking a single dose of a widely used, cheap antibiotic within 3 days after condomless sex can help prevent chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea, three sexually transmitted infections (STIs, also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases or STDs ) that have soared in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere over the past 2 decades. The study, mainly in men who have sex with men (MSM) in San Francisco and Seattle, was halted in May after an independent data monitoring board found that the strategy, known as doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP), reduced the risk of chlamydia and gonorrhea by more than 60%—a result so convincing there was no need to continue the study. DoxyPEP also appeared to protect against syphilis, but too few cases occurred during the trial to reach statistical significance. The data were scheduled to be presented this week at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal . “This is very encouraging,” says Carlos del Rio, an HIV/AIDS clinician and researcher at Emory University School of Medicine. But there are worries the regimen could trigger antibiotic resistance in the three bacteria that cause these diseases, and scientists are divided about whether the data warrant doxyPEP’s introduction now. “It is still a controversial topic,” says Jean-Michel Molina of the University of Paris Cité, who led a similar, smaller study in France a few years ago. “I don’t think we...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research