A cheap antibiotic could help slow the growing US epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases for gay men, researchers say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is drafting recommendations to consume doxycycline—used to treat bacterial infections and prevent malaria—to stave off STDs. The CDC says the medication would be taken like a “morning-after” pill.
The study, published in New England Journal of Medicine, found that taking a 200-milligram pill of doxycycline within three days of unprotected sex reduced bacterial STIs by two-thirds every three months. The yearlong study followed 500 gay men, bisexual men and transgender women with prior STD infections. The CDC noted the medicine will not “be a magic bullet,” describing it instead as “another tool” in combating the gay STD epidemic.
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