5 Results
As Prevention Strategy for Sexually Transmitted Infections Rolls Out, Experts Highlight both Promise and Knowledge Gaps
January 6, 2025
DoxyPEP is reducing the rate of syphilis and chlamydia but has had little to no effect on gonorrhea and needs close monitoring for antibiotic resistance.
Emergency Department Screening More Than Doubles Detection of Syphilis Cases
September 10, 2024
Providing optional syphilis tests to most people seeking care at a large emergency department led to a dramatic increase in syphilis screening and diagnosis, according to study of nearly 300,000 emergency department encounters in Chicago. Most people diagnosed had no symptoms, which suggests that symptom-based testing strategies alone could miss opportunities to diagnose and treat people with syphilis.
NIH Awards Will Support Innovation in Syphilis Diagnostics
September 3, 2024
NIAID has awarded grants for 10 projects to improve diagnostic tools for congenital and adult syphilis—conditions currently diagnosed with a sequence of tests, each with limited precision. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that adult and congenital syphilis cases increased by 80% and 183% respectively between 2018 and 2022—a crisis that prompted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a national taskforce to respond to the epidemic.
NIH Releases Strategic Plan for Research on Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2
September 19, 2023
In response to the persistent health challenges of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2, an NIH-wide HSV Working Group developed the plan, informed by feedback from more than 100 representatives of the research and advocacy communities and interested public stakeholders. The plan outlines an HSV research framework with four strategic priorities: improving fundamental knowledge of HSV biology, pathogenesis, and epidemiology; accelerating research to improve HSV diagnosis; improving strategies to treat HSV while seeking a curative therapeutic; and, advancing research to prevent HSV infection.
NIH-Funded Study Finds Doxycycline Reduces Sexually Transmitted Infections by Two-Thirds
April 6, 2023
The oral antibiotic doxycycline prevented the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when tested among study participants who took the medication within 72 hours of having condomless sex. The post-exposure approach, termed doxy-PEP, resulted in a two-thirds reduction in the incidence of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia among the study participants.
