2023-04-22 04:30:00
The morning-following pill is designed to prevent pregnancy following unprotected sex. You only have to take them once. Experts have now also examined the effectiveness of a “morning-following pill” that is intended to prevent infection with sexually transmitted diseases. The study by the University of California team was recently published in New England Journal of Medicine published.
This special “morning following pill” is an antibiotic. This must be taken within 72 hours following unprotected sex to prevent infection with sexually transmitted diseases (STI) such as syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. The study was able to show that, if taken in a timely manner, two thirds of STIs might be averted. “The data show that the use of DoxyPEP as a single dose following high-risk contact in this patient group seems to be effective,” says Georg Stary from the Institute of Dermatology at Med-Uni Vienna.
The study enrolled around 500 people, including men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans women who were taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV (PrEP cohort) or living with HIV infection. “It is known that patients who take HIV PrEP to protect themselves from contracting HIV frequently engage in unprotected sex and some of these contract many STIs,” explains Stary. If fewer people in this cohort contracted the three diseases mentioned as a result of treatment with DoxyPEP, there would be fewer STIs in circulation overall. “Accordingly, those who do not take the drug prophylactically may also be protected.”
risk of resistance
The pill was used an average of four times a month by the subjects, with 25 percent taking as many as ten doses or more of the pill. According to the research team, no concerns were identified regarding its side effect profile, safety, or acceptability. But, since it is an antibiotic, there are concerns regarding resistance – especially in relation to gonococci, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea. “It is significant that the resistance rates for gonococci in the USA with regard to doxycycline are significantly lower at around 25 percent than in Europe at around 60 to 70 percent. So we can only expect a reduction in infections with chlamydia and syphilis in the EU.” , says Norbert Brockmeyer, who is chairman of the German STI Society.
For this reason, Stary does not advocate the widespread use of doxycycline: “A recommendation would only make sense – if at all – for a selective group, and there, too, resistance is a problem that must be taken very seriously.”
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