While the use of PrEP has helped drop the rates of HIV infections, instances of syphilis and chlamydia among queer men have been skyrocketing, but a new study shows that doxyPEP may be the answer to curbing the rising tide of infections.A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on January 6 concluded that taking doxyPEP reduced the rates of chlamydia and syphilis by around 80%.DoxyPEP, short for Doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis, is a 200 mg dose of the antibiotic taken within 72 hours after sex to lessen the chance of acquiring gonorrhea, chlamydia, or syphilis.Our study suggests that doxyPEP may be turning the rising tide on chlamydia and syphilis, which had been seemingly endless, while important questions remain about gonorrhea and antibiotic resistance, said Julia Marcus, PhD, MPH, of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute in Boston, and one of the authors of the study, according to POZ magazine.The newly released study which tracked 11.551 people in northern California shows that the medication not only lowers the risk of chlamydia and syphilis for gay men and transgender women but also found a smaller but significant decline in rates of gonorrhea.People taking doxyPEP reported a drop of 79% for chlamydia, 80% for syphilis, and 12% for gonorrhea.Receipt of doxyPEP was associated with substantial declines in chlamydia and syphilis incidence and with moderate declines in urethral and rectal gonorrhea but not pharyngeal gonorrhea, the study concluded.Gay men make up half of all cases of syphilis in the U.S., but after years of the rates of STIs rising in the U.S., the CDC reported in November 2024 that infection rates dropped by a total of 2%, with a 13% reduction in syphilis among gay men, Queerty reports. Experts believe this significant drop is due to DoxyPep being prescribed in large cities like San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.Interventions that are effective in clinical trials dont always end up working in real-world settings, where people tend to face more barriers to consistent medication use, Michael Traeger, PhD, a research fellow at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and lead author of the study said in a statement. We were excited to see that doxyPEP users in our study experienced declines in chlamydia and syphilis comparable to those observed in clinical trials.The study found that when doxyPEP was offered to patients, not only did the rates of positive STI test results plummet, but the number of patients needing treatment after an STI exposure declined too. It also underscored the importance of STI testing even in people using doxyPEP because the treatment plan is less effective at reducing the rates of gonorrhea.Although the authors still have more questions they want answered about doxyPEP, Marcus said in a statement that the study suggests that broader implementation of doxyPEP could have tremendous benefits for reducing STI transmission and improving sexual health."