I hate to put a damper on your Valentine’s Day plans everybody, but earlier today the Centers for Disease Control sent out a red alert concerning a new strain of gonorrhea that is disturbingly drug resistant. The strain has appeared so far in such countries as France, Japan and Spain, and will soon hit North America. ABC NEWS writes, “The report from the CDC describes how Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted infection, or STI, gonorrhea, has become resistant to many forms of antibiotics since the 1930s. The bug continues to trouble disease experts as it morphs into strains that scientists call ‘multidrug-resistant gonorrhea.’ Lab studies show that cephalsporins, the current class of antibiotics used to treat gonorrhea, are becoming less effective at treating the disease. If this trend continues, cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea could emerge in the U.S., like it has in Japan, France, and Spain. To help delay the emergence of this new super bug, the CDC made changes to guidelines for gonorrhea treatment. An injectable cephalosporin called ceftriaxone combined with an oral antibiotic is now the preferred treatment. Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States. In 2011, more than 300,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported. ‘The continued threat of multidrug-resistant gonorrhea makes protecting against [gonorrhea] more important than before,’ said Dr. Lindsey Satterwhite, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention.” You can read the full story at ABC NEWS.
