The goal of this open-label, randomized trial is to assess the efficacy of doxycycline prophylaxis in reducing incidences of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescent and young adult females while also evaluating acceptability and antimicrobial resistance in order to inform public health policy.
Participants will be randomized to receive on-demand doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP), weekly doxycycline, or standard of care (SOC) and will be followed quarterly to assess the impact of doxycycline use on the quarterly incidence of STIs (gonorrhea \[GC\], chlamydia \[CT\], and early syphilis), and within the doxycycline arms adherence and acceptability of weekly versus on-demand dosing. Approximately 760 females will be randomized 1:1:1 to (1) on-demand doxyPEP (doxycycline 200 mg as soon as possible and within 72 hours after any condomless oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex), (2) weekly doxycycline (doxycycline 200 mg weekly regardless of sexual activity), or (3) SOC (quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling). Participants will complete quarterly study visits over the course of 1 year during which they will receive STI testing (GC, CT, and syphilis), complete surveys, undergo safety monitoring, provide specimens for objective markers of doxycycline adherence and other laboratory assessments, and provide specimens (vaginal and rectal swabs \[participant self-collected or staff-collected if the participant prefers\]) for future testing, such as microbiome analysis. Resistance testing will be conducted on Staphylococcus (S.) aureus and Neisseria (N.) gonorrhoeae isolates to evaluate for doxycycline and tetracycline resistance, respectively. Participants will also complete weekly assessments of sexual activity and doxycycline adherence via the HealthMpowerment (HMP) application (app).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
760
200 mg of doxycycline taken by mouth as soon as possible and within 72 hours after any condomless oral, vaginal, and/or anal sex along with STI screening and sexual health counseling
200 mg of doxycycline taken by mouth weekly regardless of sexual activity along with STI screening and sexual health counseling
Quarterly STI testing/treatment and sexual health counseling
UCLA Care
Los Angeles, California, United States
San Francisco Department of Public Health
San Francisco, California, United States
Children's National Medical Center
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
Combined incidence of GC, CT, and/or early syphilis infection
Overall combined incidence of GC, CT, and/or early syphilis infection by laboratory-based diagnosis (defined as positive GC or CT on nucleic acid amplification test \[NAAT\] or first positive rapid plasma reagin \[RPR\] with positive treponemal-specific antibody \[Ab\] or a new 4-fold rise in RPR titers) over the duration of follow-up.
Time frame: One (1) year
Individual incidence diagnoses of GC, CT, and early syphilis infection
Individual incidence diagnoses of GC, CT, and early syphilis infection by laboratory-based diagnosis (defined as positive GC or CT on NAAT or first positive RPR with positive treponemal-specific Ab or a new 4-fold rise in RPR titers) per quarter, by arm.
Time frame: One (1) year
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University of Florida
Tampa, Florida, United States
Ponce de Leon
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
University Illinois Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Tulane University
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Harlem Prevention Center
New York, New York, United States
Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Penn Prevention
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
...and 2 more locations