A newly approved medication that significantly reduces the risk of acquiring syphilis, which can cause serious and potentially life-threatening problems if not treated, is being prescribed by axess sexual health, which provides sexual health services in Liverpool, Knowsley, Warrington, Halton and Cheshire East.
The medication, doxyPEP, is a doxycycline antibiotic which is taken within 24 hours (no later than 72 hours) after sex to help prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections, and studies show it can reduce the transmission of syphilis by up to 87%.
The medication was approved for use in the US in 2023, but only until the publication this year of a new guideline by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) has it been prescribed for use in the UK. Currently, doxyPEP will only be offered to gay, bisexual, other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) and trans women at an elevated risk of acquiring syphilis.
Teams at axess are at the forefront of innovation and are implementing doxyPEP into their healthcare offer as soon as it has become available, coinciding with the publication of the consultation by BASHH.
The treatment will be used alongside other sexual health tactics - such as condom use, vaccinations, testing and treatment - to form a whole systems approach to prevent sexually transmitted infections.
Martyn Wood, Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine at axess, said: “Rates of syphilis infection have been increasing year on year in the UK. Syphilis is easily treated with antibiotics, however if it is not diagnosed early, syphilis can have potentially serious and long-lasting complications, including vision and hearing loss. DoxyPEP is proven to reduce the risk of acquiring syphilis and is another tool that somebody can use to protect their sexual health.
“We have made significant advances in STI prevention this year. Alongside the launch of doxyPEP, we will continue with routine provision of the mpox vaccine, which was first introduced in June 2022 and provides a high level of protection against the infectious disease mpox. We also plan to rollout the Meningococcal B vaccine to reduce gonorrhoea infections in August of this year.”
Further details of axess sexual health clinics prescribing doxyPEP are available at www.axess.clinic.