“Morning-after pill” against STDs: antibiotics as prevention

This is how doxycycline can prevent STDs

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have successfully tested a “morning after pill” approach to preventing STDs. This is a single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline, which is used to treat the most common sexually transmitted infections such as Syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea should protect.

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For the study, participants were two groups divided up. The first group took it Antibiotic preventively within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse a. The second group received doxycycline first after diagnosis of a sexually transmitted disease for treatment.

The study result is impressive: By taking doxycycline preventively, about two-thirds of sexually transmitted diseases could be avoided. On average, participants took the morning-after pill for STDs about four times a month, with about a quarter of all study participants taking the antibiotic ten times or more. Although this may seem like a lot at first glance, subjects who would need to be treated for several days in the event of an infection would receive at least the same dosage.

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Taking doxycycline carries risks

There is a chance that resistance to the antibiotic will develop. It is therefore questionable whether doxycycline can reduce the spread of STDs in the long term, but not prevent it. Experts also point out that taking the antibiotic affects the effect of the actual “morning after pill”, which offers protection against unwanted pregnancy.

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