Super Gonorrhea Strain Could be Public Health Crisis

A new strain of Gonorrhea that does not respond to antibiotics is causing a public health crisis according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials.
Gonorrhea is spread through oral, vaginal and anal sex and is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world. Each year approximately 106 million people worldwide become infected.
The new superbug strain of gonorrhea which does not respond to cephalosporin antibiotics has been found in several countries including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, France, Japan and Norway. Cephalosporin antibiotics are the last treatment option for gonorrhea and it appears the bacteria that causes gonorrhea has developed a resistance to it. The WHO warns that once gonorrhea develops complete resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics there will be nothing else to offer patients in the way of treatment.
The WHO has released a global action plan that will hopefully encourage greater awareness of this problem. The WHO also hopes it will foster increased prevention efforts including those that apply to HIV/AIDS prevention such as condom use and limited number of sexual partners.
The WHO points out the data on this new superbug is not complete yet. Lack of human and financial resources in some parts of the world make tracking data difficult so the extent of the spread of this strain of gonorrhea is not currently known. Greater attention to tracking infections and data are needed globally to fully understand how widespread this problem is.
Untreated gonorrhea has very serious consequences. Infertility in both men and women, miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy in women and eye infections and blindness in babies who are born to women with gonorrhea. The bacteria that causes gonorrhea can also get into other parts of the body and cause joint pain, swelling and stiffness.

Source: CNN.com