One pill can prevent HIV. Can another prevent syphilis?

published on September 25, 2018 by Niko Bell, in Xtra

Some researchers think the same antibiotic that treats syphilis could also prevent it

Thousands of men in British Columbia are already taking pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (better known as PrEP) to reduce the risk of getting HIV. Now, two researchers in Vancouver are trying something new: PrEP for syphilis.

Dr Troy Grennan of the BC Centre for Disease Control and Dr Mark Hull of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS are running a new study to explore the viability and safety of regularly taking an antibiotic that treats syphilis to prevent the infection.

In the study, men are taking medication to prevent HIV, as well as a separate regular dose of doxycycline, which is used to treat syphilis.

The rate of new syphilis infections among gay and bisexual men in BC is troublingly high: men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for almost all of the new cases of syphilis reported in 2016, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

The drug emtricitabine/tenofovir, which is sold under the drug name Truvada, is used to prevent and treat HIV. However, Truvada has become synonymous with “PrEP,” but the acronym actually refers to any medication used to prevent infection before exposure.

PrEP for syphilis, Grennan and Hull say, could work much like Truvada by giving patients a small ongoing dose of doxycycline to prevent syphilis infection from occurring.

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Mark Hull

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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One pill can prevent HIV. Can another prevent syphilis?

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