Taking antibiotics within 24 hours of unprotected intercourse can reduce an individual's likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Researchers conducted the study from 2015 to 2016 among a population of men that frequently engaged in unprotected sex with other men — a group at heightened risk for contracting STIs. Researchers split the 232 participants into two groups. One group was instructed to take two doxycycline pills ideally within 24 hours and no longer than 72 hours after they'd had an unprotected sexual encounter. The other group was not instructed to take antibiotics. The median antibiotic use among participants was 6.8 pills per month. Participants were instructed to take no more than six pills per week. At the end of the study period, researchers found the participants who took antibiotics displayed 70 percent lower rates of chlamydia and 73 percent lower rates of syphilis.
The study's findings come as public health officials are looking for means to reduce rising STI rates around the country. However, a possible treatment method derived from the study could prove controversial, as the overuse of antibiotics has directly contributed to the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections, STAT reports.
Brad Spellberg, MD, an infectious diseases specialist and CMO at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles, told STAT using doxycycline in this way could result in STIs becoming resistant to the drug. Additionally, Dr. Spellberg said exposing gut microbiota to regular doses of antibiotics could also spur resistance in those bacteria, which would bring about a multitude of health issues.
"You're causing friendly fire injury," Dr. Spellberg told STAT.
Lead study author Jean-Michel Molina, MD, PhD, head of infectious diseases at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris, told STAT he'd never support the long-term use of antibiotics for the prevention of STIs, but suggested the method could be effective in the short term.
"I don't want this strategy to be used widely in any person, clearly," Dr. Molina said. "But if you can select a group with a high incidence rate of syphilis or chlamydia, and you want to try to reduce the rate of syphilis quite quickly in this group of people, you may think that this strategy could be used for a couple of months."
In 2016, the CDC recorded more than 2 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — a record high for the U.S.
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