Oral Doxycycline for the Prevention of Syphilis in Men Who Have Sex with Men (DaDHS)

Summary

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) disproportionately affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM), with the potential for significant sequelae - particularly in those who are Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive. Rising rates of this STI have prompted a search for novel prevention solutions. A recent pilot study of daily doxycycline prophylaxis demonstrated promise as a novel STI prevention tool. This innovative approach to STI prevention has solid clinical precedent, both from the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) literature, as well as doxycycline's use as prophylaxis for other infections. The overarching goal of this project is to determine whether the daily use of doxycycline is an efficacious and acceptable intervention for syphilis prevention in high-risk, HIV-positive gbMSM.

Timeline

Start

2019-08-15

Primary completion

2024-04-05

Completion

2024-12-31

Publications

• Background Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario). Reportable Disease Trends in Ontario, 2013. Toronto, ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario; 2015.
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• Background Bolan RK, Beymer MR, Weiss RE, Flynn RP, Leibowitz AA, Klausner JD. Doxycycline prophylaxis to reduce incident syphilis among HIV-infected men who have sex with men who continue to engage in high-risk sex: a randomized, controlled pilot study. Sex Transm Dis. 2015 Feb;42(2):98-103. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000216.
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Drugs

Indications