Common Antibiotic Stops Infections After Sex

As rates of sexually transmitted infections continue to skyrocket across the United States, more physicians are prescribing a commonly used antibiotic to prevent chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis infections among gay and bisexual men and transgender women, Jacqueline Howard reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Recent research suggests that one 200mg dose of the drug can be effective in preventing such infections among men who have sex with men if taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex.

Doxycycline is a class of medications traditionally used to treat bacterial STIs after someone has been infected.

Yet, recent research suggests that one 200mg dose of the drug can be effective in preventing such infections among men who have sex with men if taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex.

This approach, called doxyPEP, has garnered so much attention that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to post draft guidance for public comment in the next several weeks on how healthcare workers may deploy the preventative treatment, such as how many pills should go into a prescription or which people could benefit most from the drug.

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