The agency is proposing that doctors prescribe a single 200 mg dose of the inexpensive and common antibiotic doxycycline 72 hours after unprotected sex to decrease common STIs like chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea.
The guidance from the CDC is specific to certain at-risk groups: gay and bisexual men as well as transgender women. This regimen could potentially prevent 40 percent of STIs in the impacted groups.
Public health experts have been urging federal authorities to consider this guidance — referred to as doxyPEP — citing the growing amount of evidence supporting the benefits. Some local governments, like San Francisco, have already adopted this course of action for their own communities.
This proposal comes as reported STIs have grown in recent years, increasing by 42 percent from 2011 to 2021.
But the question of whether this prescription could lead to antibacterial resistance has also been raised.
As NBC News reported back in February, there were already concerns that prescribing doxycycline as a morning-after treatment could do more harm than good in the long run by fueling antibiotic-resistant infections.
About 25 percent of gonorrhea bacteria is already resistant to doxycycline according to the CDC. Health authorities there is less concern over syphilis and chlamydia as these bacteria have fewer mechanisms to become resistant.
The CDC will be monitoring the potential that widespread use of doxycycline could lead to other bacteria developing a resistance.
A 45-day public comment window has been opened regarding this proposed rule.
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