
"Reviving an Old Antibiotic: The Promising STI Prevention Pill"
As rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to rise in the US, physicians are increasingly prescribing the antibiotic doxycycline as a preventative treatment for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in gay and bisexual men and transgender women. Known as doxyPEP, this approach involves taking a single pill within 72 hours after unprotected sex. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to release draft guidance on the use of doxycycline as STI post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in the coming weeks. Local health departments, such as those in San Francisco and Seattle, have already issued their own guidelines. DoxyPEP has been found to be about 65% effective in reducing the incidence of bacterial STIs. However, there are concerns about antibiotic resistance and the lack of research on its effectiveness in cisgender women.

