Current:Home > FinanceUS health officials propose using a cheap antibiotic as a ‘morning-after pill’ against STDs-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
US health officials propose using a cheap antibiotic as a ‘morning-after pill’ against STDs
View Date:2025-01-11 01:12:45
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials plan to endorse a common antibiotic as a morning-after pill that gay and bisexual men can use to try to avoid some increasingly common sexually transmitted diseases.
The proposed CDC guideline was released Monday, and officials will move to finalize it after a 45-day public comment period. With STD rates rising to record levels, “more tools are desperately needed,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The proposal comes after studies found some people who took the antibiotic doxycycline within three days of unprotected sex were far less likely to get chlamydia, syphilis or gonorrhea compared with people who did not take the pills after sex.
The guideline is specific to the group that has been most studied — gay and bisexual men and transgender women who had a STD in the previous 12 months and were at high risk to get infected again.
Related stories ‘Out of control’ STD situation prompts call for changes STDs are on the rise. This morning-after-style pill may helpThere’s less evidence that the approach works for other people, including heterosexual men and women. That could change as more research is done, said Mermin, who oversees the CDC’s STD efforts.
Even so, the idea ranks as one of only a few major prevention measures in recent decades in “a field that’s lacked innovation for so long,” said Mermin. The others include a vaccine against the HPV virus and pills to ward off HIV, he said.
Doxycycline, a cheap antibiotic that has been available for more than 40 years, is a treatment for health problems including acne, chlamydia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
The CDC guidelines were based on four studies of using doxycycline against bacterial STDs.
One of the most influential was a New England Journal of Medicine study earlier this year. It found that gay men, bisexual men and transgender women with previous STD infections who took the pills were about 90% less likely to get chlamydia, about 80% less likely to get syphilis and more than 50% less likely to get gonorrhea compared with people who didn’t take the pills after sex.
A year ago, San Francisco’s health department began promoting doxycycline as a morning-after prevention measure.
With infection rates rising, “we didn’t feel like we could wait,” said Dr. Stephanie Cohen, who oversees the department’s STD prevention work.
Some other city, county and state health departments — mostly on the West Coast — followed suit.
At Fenway Health, a Boston-based health center that serves many gay, lesbian and transexual clients, about 1,000 patients are using doxycycline that way now, said Dr. Taimur Khan, the organization’s associate medical research director.
The guideline should have a big impact, because many doctors have been reluctant to talk to patients about it until they heard from the CDC, Khan said.
The drug’s side effects include stomach problems and rashes after sun exposure. Some research has found it ineffective in heterosexual women. And widespread use of doxycycline as a preventive measure could — theoretically — contribute to mutations that make bacteria impervious to the drug.
That kind of antibiotic resistance hasn’t materialized in San Francisco, but it will be important to watch for, Cohen said.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (131)
Related
- More than 150 pronghorns hit, killed on Colorado roads as animals sought shelter from snow
- Orlando Magic racking up quality wins as they surge in NBA power rankings
- Nick Saban's phone flooded with anonymous angry calls after Alabama coach's number leaked
- Search for missing hiker ends after Michigan nurse found dead near Calaveras County trail
- How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
- Older Voters Are Second Only to Young People in Share of ’Climate Voters,’ New Study Shows
- Supreme Court hears a case that experts say could wreak havoc on the tax code
- NFL official injured in Saints vs. Lions game suffered fractured fibula, to have surgery
- Digital Finance Research Institute Introduce
- Video shows elderly 17-year-old Shih Tzu rescued from air vent in Virginia home: Watch
Ranking
- Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says he was detained in airport over being ‘disoriented’
- Elon Musk's X platform fueled far-right riots in Ireland, experts say
- Activists at COP28 summit ramp up pressure on cutting fossil fuels as talks turn to clean energy
- Black Americans expect to face racism in the doctor's office, survey finds
- UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight card, odds, how to watch, date
- Caught on camera! The world's biggest iceberg, a megaberg, 3 times size of New York City
- Supreme Court to hear major case that could upend tax code and doom wealth tax proposals
- Kelsey Grammer's BBC interview cut short after Donald Trump remarks, host claims
Recommendation
-
John Krasinski Revealed as People's Sexiest Man Alive 2024
-
Putin plans to visit UAE and Saudi Arabia this week, according to Russian media reports
-
Notre Dame trustees select Robert Dowd as university’s 18th president
-
Judge weighing Ohio abortion rights amendment’s legal impact keeps anti-abortion groups clear
-
Hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field can be fixed for about $55M in time for 2026 season, per report
-
Florida motorist accused of firing at Rhode Island home stopped with over 1,000 rounds of ammo
-
Man charged in killings of 3 homeless people and a suburban LA resident, prosecutors say
-
Former U.S. ambassador Manuel Rocha arrested, accused of serving as agent of Cuba, sources say