Gonorrhea Nears Complete Drug Resistance
Gonorrhea is showing resistance to all but one antibiotic drug used against it, U.S. health officials announced this week.
Gonorrhea is showing resistance to all but one antibiotic drug used against it, U.S. health officials announced this week.
“We’re trying to sound the alarm to prevent untreatable gonorrhea from becoming a reality,” said Gail Bolan, director of the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’re very concerned.”
An estimated 700,000 cases of gonorrhea occur in the United States each year, with fewer than half of them being reported. It is one of the most common STDs. Rates are highest among African-Americans and sexually active teenagers and young adults.
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Your support matters…The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog:
Since 2007, the CDC had recommended treatment with one class of antibiotics known as cephalosporins, because ever-adaptable gonorrhea had outsmarted all other treatments used against it. That class of drugs includes an oral antibiotic, marketed under the brand name Suprax (cefixime) and an injectable antibiotic marketed under the brand name Rocephin (ceftriaxone). The CDC’s new recommendation means that only the injectable drug is now recommended for regular use, so patients need to get a shot rather than taking pills.
… The new guidelines could be tough for many doctors to follow, given that they don’t regularly stock the injectable drug (it is stocked generally in STD clinics). Many patients prefer pills to shots. And the guidelines also call on clinicians to monitor closely for possible resistance to the shot and make sure patients are cured — meaning they have to return to the doctor’s office.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Lack of government oversight has created public health crises including antibiotic-resistant diseases, foodborne illness and flu epidemics.
The social media site may suffer a mass exodus of users under the age of 55. These discoveries and more in today's Larry's List.
Researchers blame the problem on widespread use of fungicides on crops.
Chemists searching for ways to overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria have generated more than 300 variations of a drug that has long been a cornerstone of medical treatment.
Frequent users of antibiotics were about 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes than those who had taken the drugs infrequently, researchers in Denmark found.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that a bacterium highly resistant to antibiotics has been found in squid imported from South Korea.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.