Experts hail possible game-changer in fight against sexually-transmitted infections
SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Department of Public Health issued guidance for Doxy-PEP, which can help prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in certain groups by using a common antibiotic (doxycycline) to target specific infections like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.
A recent study found that doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (Doxy-PEP) reduced STIs when used by some adults based on their medical history and sexual partners.
"We just have another tool in our arsenal to take care of ourselves," said Christopher Artalejo-Price, a San Francisco resident who plans to start taking Doxy-PEP as soon as his health care provider can offer him the medication. "To know that there is something out there that can reduce the numbers of those positive test results is really exciting."
A surge in STIs locally has led some in San Francisco to call the problem a public health crisis. SFDPH has already identified reducing the rate of STIs to be a priority. Early research shows that, among communities who are high risk, Doxy-PEP can be an effective strategy to prevent infections.
Early results from a clinical trial released earlier this year conducted by the department of public health, UCSF and the University of Washington found that a single dose of the medication, when taken within 72 hours of any kind of unprotected sex, significantly reduced certain STIs.
"The use of DoxyPEP as a new prevention strategy is really game-changing in the way that we can control new incidents of STI in our community," said Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D, San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO.
Doxy-PEP is currently available to clients at the foundation's Magnet Clinic. The clinic recommends this treatment for men who have sex with men or transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. The criteria for Doxy-PEP also include patients who had an STI or who had multiple sexual partners in the past year.
Researchers found that, if someone was already taking HIV PrEP, this medication reduced syphilis by 87%, chlamydia by 88% and gonorrhea by 55%. For people living with HIV, doxy-PEP reduced syphilis by 77%, chlamydia by 74%, and gonorrhea by 57%. The trial was specific to men who have sex with men and transgender women who either were on HIV PrEP or who were living with HIV.
"It is my hope that, as time passes, people start to see the benefit of it and really understand that this is for the greater good of the community," Artalejo-Price told KPIX. "All we can do is give them the best information out there and the best resources for health care to take care of themselves."
The clinical trial has not determined if using doxycycline would increase antibiotic resistance or impact the bacteria that naturally live in the gut.
TerMeer acknowledged there is a stigma around STIs and treatment but hopes that, coming out of the pandemic, there is a better understanding about how to have difficult conversations.
"While they are not direct correlations, they are proof that we can have conversations about our own self-care and our own ability to manage health within our lives and our friend groups," he said about both STIs and COVID-19.
Artalejo-Price says he has taken the next step to start receiving Doxy-PEP and he hopes it can become part of a larger response for public health that makes STIs an easier conversation to have.
"The larger community, though, and the communities that I participate in, have really tried to move past that stigma and create community in spaces where we can be intimate with each other and receive services like this to really benefit and take care of all of us."
To learn more about Doxy-PEP at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, visit www.SFAF.org
