Current:Home > MyUS health officials propose using a cheap antibiotic as a ‘morning-after pill’ against STDs -Wealth Navigators Hub
US health officials propose using a cheap antibiotic as a ‘morning-after pill’ against STDs
View
Date:2025-04-14 15:43:20
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! (9)
Related
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- 'I only have 1 dog:' Shocked California homeowner spots mountain lion 'playing' with pet
- Get Ready With Alix Earle’s Makeup Must-Haves
- Raise a Glass to Vanderpump Rules Star Tom Schwartz's Shocking Blond Hair Transformation
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- 3-year-old migrant girl dies aboard bus headed from Texas to Chicago
- Is Biden's plan to stem immigration seeing any success?: 5 Things podcast
- Maryland man leads Virginia police on wild chase in stolen truck and ambulance before DC arrest
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Call it 'stealth mental health' — some care for elders helps more without the label
Ranking
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- MLB power rankings: Every American League division is up for grabs
- Bachelor Nation's Jade Roper Shares She's Experiencing a Missed Miscarriage
- Ex-officers plead guilty to more charges after beating, sexual assault of Black men in Mississippi
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Northwestern sued again over troubled athletics program. This time it’s the baseball program
- 'Sound of Freedom' director Alejandro Monteverde addresses controversies: 'Breaks my heart'
- 'Like it or not, we live in Oppenheimer's world,' says director Christopher Nolan
Recommendation
Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
Maui fires live updates: Fire 'deemed to be out' roared back to life, fueling tragedy
Call it 'stealth mental health' — some care for elders helps more without the label
'Only Murders in the Building' Episode 3: How to watch Season 3; schedule, cast
'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
Judge sides with young activists in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana
Chicago mayor to introduce the police department’s counterterrorism head as new superintendent
As Maui rescue continues, families and faith leaders cling to hope but tackle reality of loss