US public health agency recommends prophylactic doxycycline to reduce STIs

The US public health agency has proposed that the antibiotic doxycycline is used prophylactically in people at risk of contracting chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis up to three days after possible exposure.1The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the preventative action was needed in the face of increasing sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The draft recommendation proposes treatment with doxycycline up to three days after potential exposure. CDC said that this was “a new approach to tackling STI prevention in populations at increased risk.” The groups for whom treatment was an option included young people; gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men; pregnant women; transgender women; and some racial and ethnic minorities, according to a presentation by Laura Hinkle Bachmann, the chief medical officer of CDC’s division of sexually transmitted disease prevention.2CDC’s proposed guidelines say that “Post-exposure prophylaxis with doxycycline has demonstrated benefit in reducing…
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