STI Prevention
How to Have Safer Sex
Learn if you may be at higher risk for getting a sexually transmitted infection like syphilis with the Prepare Before You're There sexual health quiz from the CDC.
Talk about your sexual health with your healthcare provider and your sexual partners. If you are not sure how to discuss your sexual health, learn conversation tips to start the talk with your healthcare Provider and partner(s).
Learn how to protect yourself and your partners from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like syphilis with safer sex practices . These include:
- Using a barrier method like male (also called external) condoms, female (also called internal) condoms, or dental dams when you have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
- Using water or silicon-based lubricant to help prevent condoms from breaking and body tissues from tearing.
- Washing your hands if you come into contact with your partner's sexual fluids before touching your genitals, eyes, or mouth.
Get Tested
Read about What you can do to prevent STIs and more about getting tested from HIV.gov.
Visit CDC's "Getting Tested for STIs" page.
Order a Free Home STI Test Kit from IWTK
The mission of IWTK (I Want the Kit) from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is to decrease the transmission and burden of STIs through free, convenient, confidential, and accurate testing and to educate our users about STI prevention. The lab is licensed by the State of Maryland and certified by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). *Order a Free Home STI Test Kit
*The program continues to grow and expand as new collaborative partners across the country are identified and data use agreements and policies are placed. Visit the I Want the Kit website for the most recent map of availability.
Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (DoxyPEP)
Doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis ("DoxyPEP") is an antibiotic taken after unprotected sex to prevent STIs. DoxyPEP is recommended for gay, bisexual, and other cis-gender men who have sex with other men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) with a history of at least one STI in the past year, those who are currently taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and those using substances and/or are at high risk of getting an STI.
Oral doxycycline can be used as post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent STIs, including syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. The DoxyPEP regimen is doxycycline 200 mg taken by mouth within 72 hours after condomless sex.
For more information, see the Interim Guidance for the Use of Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (DoxyPEP) for Bacterial Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention from the Indian Health Service and the Guidelines for the Use of Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for Bacterial Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More Information
- Read about What you can do to prevent STIs and more about getting tested from HIV.gov.
- Find out about how to Get Tested for Sexually Transmitted Diseases from gettested.cdc.gov
Learn about Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (Doxy PEP).
